Unhoused people in Encinitas could soon get $2,000 in rental assistance in just 48 hours

People experiencing homelessness in Encinitas may soon be able to get up to $2,000 in one-time rental assistance in a matter of days, thanks to a new agreement between the city and a nonprofit. 

The Encinitas City Council is set to authorize the San Diego Rescue Mission to issue rental assistance checks to people experiencing homelessness in the city at its next meeting on Wednesday. Both city officials and nonprofit leaders hope the partnership will help speed up assistance and ensure more people have access to permanent housing.  

Recipients would get up to a couple thousand dollars to help with a deposit or one month of rent, San Diego Rescue Mission Chief of Staff Paul Armstrong said. He said the lump sum is designed as a short-term solution distinct from other programs that help people over time. People would also need to prove a stable income to be eligible. 

“This is really targeted assistance to help someone be able to get into housing, be able to not fall into homelessness,” Armstrong said. “It really is about more of a crisis response.”

The nonprofit has already placed 40 people in treatment programs or transitional housing. Two poeple were housing-ready and permanently housed. That’s through a $344,000 contract it received from the city for outreach and housing help approved in November. The nonprofit has a similar agreement with Vista. 

The rental assistance would not require any additional funding, according to the City Council agenda. The contract is on Encinitas’ consent agenda, meaning it would pass without discussion with support from a board majority. 

A new approach to homelessness

The rental assistance comes at a time when the city has struggled to address homelessness and offer affordable housing. 

Encinitas had 135 people in need of shelter in January 2025 during its annual count of homelessness. Of those, 91 were unsheltered. Ninety beds the city has in its emergency shelter, transitional housing and rapid re-housing options were nearly full. 

In recent months, Encinitas officials have taken a tougher stance on homelessness.

In December, the City Council approved a more strict ban on camping in public to prevent homeless encampments and deter people from living in their vehicles. That law went into effect in February so it’s too soon to measure its effectiveness. Research has shown that camping bans are ineffective in reducing homelessness.

The city also declined to fund the nonprofit Jewish Family Service’s “Safe Parking Program,” which led to its closure at the end of 2025. The program had 25 spots available per night for people experiencing homelessness to sleep in their cars in a secure parking lot at the Encinitas Community & Senior Center.

In February, Encinitas announced that it would stop taking people off of its 1,137-person waitlist for the longer term Section 8 vouchers, which subsidize rental costs for low-income households. Several other area housing authorities, including those in the city and county of San Diego, have stopped adding people to their waitlists due to insufficient funding. 

Getting people into housing faster

Armstrong said the nonprofit San Diego Rescue Mission does not face the same administrative hurdles as the city, so it can get people rental assistance and into housing faster, within two days instead of the two weeks or more it can take the city. 

That time difference is critical, according to the agenda document. The nonprofit’s agreement with the city notes that landlords do not hold units for extended periods, nor do they accept electronic payments like credit cards. 

Armstrong said the nonprofit has staff on the streets interacting with people, which will make it easier to perform needs assessments and help people get into permanent housing.

The nonprofit will process and provide payment directly to the landlord. It will then submit monthly invoices to the city, which will reimburse the organization within 30 days. 

Bob Kent, affordable housing advocate and former chief financial advisor at Encinitas’ Community Resource Center, told inewsource the rental checks are crucial.

“Some people are living one car repair or medical emergency or unforeseen expenditure away from becoming homeless,” he said. “And in some cases, if they can get that extra help on a one-time basis, that can be the difference between them experiencing homelessness and staying or moving into safe and stable housing.”