Sen. Blakespear Presents $3M Check to City of Oceanside for Interim Housing Units
PHOTO: Sen. Blakespear presented the City of Oceanside with a $3 million check to use for interim housing units. From left to right are: Oceanside City Councilmember Jimmy Figueroa; Oceanside City Manager Jonathan Borrego; Oceanside Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce; Sen. Blakespear; Elizabeth Funk, Founder and CEO of DignityMoves; and Greg Anglea, CEO of Interfaith Community Services. Behind them are model tiny homes, similar to what the project will provide.
OCEANSIDE, Calif. – Sen. Catherine S. Blakespear, D-Encinitas, on Tuesday presented the City of Oceanside with a $3 million check to use for interim housing units and support services for the people using them. Sen. Blakespear was able to secure the funding from the 2026-27 state budget.
“I was excited to advocate for this project and secure funding for it, because I know how important and impactful interim housing is. Other cities have shown that by building small individual shelters at scale, they can dramatically reduce the number of people forced to live unsheltered on their streets. Congratulations to Oceanside for doing the hard work to make this happen.”
-Senator Catherine S. Blakespear
“Senator Blakespear has shown tremendous courage in her work on ending street homelessness. While so many leaders turn away from the call to end the suffering of our most vulnerable residents, she stands firm. We are proud to be a partner who says yes. We have a local saying, ‘Oceanside takes care of its own.’ This opportunity is going to help us live up to that calling. This project will provide desperately needed space for the dignity and rest all of our people deserve.”
- Oceanside Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce
WHY IT MATTERS
Homelessness is a problem throughout San Diego County and the entire state of California. The 2026 Point-In-Time Count conducted in January revealed that 9,803 people in San Diego County are experiencing homelessness, with 5,108 of them living unsheltered – on streets, in public spaces or in their cars. The same count showed that 362 people were living unsheltered in Oceanside. Across California, 181,934 people are homeless. One giant part of the problem is the lack of available shelters.
BACKROUND
Oceanside’s interim housing project aims to provide 17 small shelters that can be used by people transitioning out of homelessness. The tiny homes would be located in the parking lot of Oceanside Navigation Center – Interfaith Community Services, 3131 Oceanside Blvd.
City officials say they will contract out to build the tiny homes and would likely use Interfaith Community Services to provide case management, housing navigation services and connections to other supportive services for people using the tiny homes.
DignityMoves, which is known for developing, and advocating for, interim housing as a solution to widespread street homelessness, has expressed interest in the project but has not been selected by, or contracted with, the City of Oceanside to do it.
Sen. Blakespear wrote an op-ed in 2025 about the importance of interim housing and building tiny homes at scale to help solve the state’s homelessness crisis. Read it here.
SENATOR BLAKESPEAR’S RECORD
- Sen. Blakespear secured $2 million in state budget funding this year for the City of Vista to help pay the operating costs for the Buena Creek Navigation Center, which provides supportive housing units for people experiencing homelessness.
- Sen. Blakespear secured $1.67 million from the 2025-26 state budget for the County of San Diego for its Landlord Incentive program, which provides direct payments to landlords to lower rental costs for veterans who qualify for assistance through the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program.
- Since 2023, Sen. Blakespear has held an annual Ending Homelessness Summit, bringing together policymakers, experts and community leaders to address California’s homelessness crisis. On Wednesday, her 4th Annual Ending Homelessness Summit will be held at the Dove Library in Carlsbad.
Sen. Blakespear represents Senate District 38, which covers northern San Diego County and southern Orange County. To learn more about the district and Sen. Blakespear, visit her Senate website.
