A renovated community space at the Rose Canyon Safe Parking Program is helping families find comfort, connection and stability as they work toward permanent housing.
For families facing housing uncertainty, small moments of normalcy can make a big difference. A newly renovated community space at the Rose Canyon Safe Parking Program is now offering a place where unhoused families can gather, recharge and feel at home while working toward permanent housing.
The Rose Canyon site provides 18 camping trailers where families living out of their cars can safely stay overnight as they search for stable housing. While the trailers offer shelter, organizers said the newly updated community space is changing how families experience their time at the site.
“This room is where community happens, where meals are shared, homework is done, and parents can meet with case managers to take real steps towards housing,” a speaker said during the unveiling.
The renovated space was officially revealed on Monday and now includes play areas for children, new appliances, phone-charging lockers and areas designed for families to gather and relax.
“There’s so much color, and there’s so much art,” said Mike Phillips with Jewish Family Service of San Diego, which operates the Rose Canyon Safe Parking Program.
Phillips said families immediately noticed the change.
“We’ve had participants that come and say, ‘Now I can be a person again,’ or ‘Finally, I feel human again,'” he said. “Those are the extra things that we’re going to be able to make possible by working with all these partners that we were working with today.”
The four-day renovation was completed with labor and materials from Home Aid, Humble Design and Swinerton. The project was led and funded by donors Mark and Hanna Gleiberman, inspired by their daughter-in-law, Samantha Gleiberman.
