Engaging with Our Community

In Spring 2023, the City engaged the community through a series of town halls, one held in each of the four Council Districts. The City held additional townhalls on homelessness: two for business owners in the City, one for faith-based groups, and one for the Lions Club of El Cajon. The town halls had four primary objectives:

1. They provided an opportunity to share the City's efforts in addressing homelessness and shed light on the challenges faced,
2. They encouraged community members to actively participate in developing potential solutions through facilitated small group discussions,
3. Community members were given the chance to ask questions to the City Council and Staff,
4. To gauge whether existing programs aligned with the community's expectations.

Each town hall lasted approximately 1.5 hours and consisted of three segments. The first 30 minutes involved presentations by the city manager, assistant city manager, police chief, and housing manager. These presentations provided a brief overview of the City's current programs, highlighted successful initiatives in El Cajon, discussed the limitations imposed by state law and local jail policies, and presented relevant data. These presentations laid the groundwork for the subsequent small group discussions members discussed ideas and potential solutions, which were recorded. The final 30 minutes of each town hall was reserved for a Q&A.

Resources following Townhalls

• Staff report to City Council summarizing feedback from community members
• Slide Deck from Community Townhall (May 4)
• Slide Deck from Business Townhall (August 9)
• Slide Deck from Faith-Based Townhall (August 24)

Investing in Our Community

The City of El Cajon recognizes that homelessness is complex and sensitive issue, as such we strive to serve members of our community who experience homelessness. Since 2020, the City of El Cajon has invested over $3.2 million in direct services to help people experiencing homelessness. This figure does not include the funds and staff hours addressing the impacts of homelessness on the community.  The City of El Cajon offers several programs to help address homelessness. You can learn more about these programs below.