Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas, leaders representing the YMCA and MTS gathered at the trolley stop on E Street Wednesday afternoon, to address youth homelessness in San Diego County.
Mayor Salas says it is important as community leaders to highlight this issue in November, being national homeless youth awareness month.
“We see a lot of those youth in Chula Vista and we want to make sure they are taken care of, and that people realize the challenges that these young people have to face, and have some empathy for them, being part of helping them find some kind of stability,” Salas said.
In attendance Wednesday afternoon was MTS Marketing Specialist Marcial Gutierrez, where he stated that transit will be a valuable tool going forward to fight this issue.
“We have updated our board policy to look into underutilizing parking lots, and see how they can potentially be turned into affordable housing.”
Gutierrez also believes MTS will benefit from this project in the future, by potentially increasing the number of population using MTS transportation.
“For us it makes sense because the closer you live to transit, the more likely you are to ride it.”
YMCA representatives were in attendance to raise awareness on the matter, to highlight how local residents can contribute to the issue.
Courtney Baltiyskyy, head of Policy and Government affairs in San Diego County says, this is a great opportunity for the whole community to get involved and take action on the matter.
“We can all be a part of it by becoming more aware, if you can donate the time, tell someone in your household or at the grocery store that there are over 1,500 youth who are unsheltered in San Diego County, and even if it’s not your child, it is not okay.”
