Home

Mission Statement: The mission of the Community Christian Service Agency, an ecumenical Christian agency, is to provide emergency services to individuals and families in need in San Diego County, including food, clothing, and referrals, and where practical, counseling to assist in their transition to self-reliance.

IN OUR CITY…

In San Diego, police arrested and jailed, for several days, a pregnant Alexis Leftridge as she slept in her tent. Leftridge became homeless after losing her nursing job in 2014 — without money for rent, she was evicted. To get out of jail, she agreed to an order to stay away from the area, but she now has so many that she does not know where to go. According to pleadings filed in a lawsuit against the city, she is afraid she will be arrested for “walking along the wrong street.” She has subsequently given birth to a baby boy and currently has a room at a shelter. But, because the shelter is within the “stay away” area, she is at risk of re-arrest. [Gary Warth / San Diego Union-Tribune]

The causes of homelessness vary, but experts largely agree that both structural and individual factors play a role. Structural factors include poverty, inadequate affordable housing, inadequate access to meaningful public assistance, decreased availability of mental health care, and discrimination. [Jonathan Hafetz / Fordham Urban Law Journal]

CCSA OUTREACH TO THOSE IN NEED IN 2017

The total number of individuals served in 2017 at CCSA (Rappahannock, Pacific Beach, Commodities, and offsite distribution) was 29,338.  (This was up from 26,000 in 2016.)

Two hundred eighty-nine Christmas baskets were distributed to 213 low income families.  The estimated value of those baskets was $40,000.

Pacific Beach distributed 132 Christmas bags, having an estimated value of $2,640.

Groceries distributed, including 55 tons of fresh rescue produce, had a total estimated value of $1,234,288.50.

We distributed 530 backpacks, having an estimated value of $26,500.

We distributed almost 41,000 items of clothing in Clairemont, and over 10,000 items of clothing in Pacific Beach.  The estimated value of the clothing distributed was in excess of $201,000.

A special thanks goes out to Sprouts and their locations in Clairemont, Genesee, and Point Loma, for almost 7,000 bags of groceries they provided to us in December, with a value in excess of $76,600.

In summary, CCSA distributed over $1,547,000 worth of goods in 2017.

In 2017, we experienced over a 10% growth in the number of persons served over 2016, and we did so under budget, expending 20% less than we did in 2016.

Progress! That’s what we are experiencing at Pacific Beach Street Guardians as we enter in to our second full year of service to our community. We have had the opportunity of finding purpose and dignity in the work we provide to our neighborhood doing street cleaning, janitorial/custodial work, property maintenance and event set up/take down. Because our contracts are expanding, we are able to hire more people to work, make a fair wage and move toward self-sufficiency.

An increasing number of community members are finding ways to include PBSG in their service needs in local businesses, organizations and residences. We are seeing a movement of care and compassion in the ways they are addressing the serious issues of homelessness in our area. PBSG has recently partnered with Community Christian Service Agency by offering clients served there an opportunity to find employment through our social enterprise. Applications and interviews will be made available to those who are interested on a monthly basis.

Positive changes will continue to occur as we work together in our community with well thought out strategies and compassionate hearts. Click here to donate online:  http://www.pbstreetguardians.org/give.html  Or send check/money order to PBSG,1158 Thomas Avenue, San Diego, CA 92109.

How You Can Help