OCEANSIDE — The city has received $3 million in state funding to install temporary homes and provide services for future residents.
State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, who secured the funding in the 2026-27 state budget, presented the city with a $3 million check on Oct. 6 at the Oceanside Navigation Center, the city’s 75-bed homeless shelter.
The funds will support the city’s interim housing project, which aims to provide 17 tiny homes for people transitioning out of homelessness.
While the project has not yet been finalized, the plan is to install the tiny homes in a parking lot behind the Navigation Center at 3131 Oceanside Blvd.
Blakespear emphasized the importance of interim housing in addressing homelessness.
“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,” she said. “Congratulations to Oceanside for doing the hard work to make this happen.”
According to city officials, Oceanside would contract with a developer to build the tiny homes and likely use Interfaith Community Services, the nonprofit organization that operates the homeless shelter, to provide case management, housing navigation and connections to other supportive services.
“We have a local saying, ‘Oceanside takes care of its own.’ This opportunity is going to help us live up to that calling,” Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce said. “This project will provide desperately needed space for the dignity and rest all of our people deserve.”
DignityMoves, an interim housing developer, has expressed interest in the project but has not yet entered into any contracts or agreements with the city.
Blakespear also secured $2 million in state budget funding to help Vista cover operating costs for the Buena Creek Navigation Center, which offers 48 beds in apartment-style housing for people experiencing homelessness.
Vista originally partnered with Encinitas to operate the shelter when it opened in 2024, but Encinitas leaders plan to leave the partnership by the end of the year in exchange for 12 beds at the San Diego Rescue Mission’s South County Lighthouse in National City, a move expected to save the city money.
The Vista City Council unanimously agreed to fund the shelter through Dec. 31, 2027, with plans to assume responsibility for all 48 beds, including the 12 currently reserved for Encinitas.
