Homelessness in San Diego: What makes Good Neighbors?

Please join us for a public conversation about homelessness and the meaning of citizenship in a border community, hosted by the University of San Diego’s Trans-Border Institute and St. Vincent de Paul Village/Father Joe’s Villages.

There are nearly 9,000 homeless people in the City of San Diego, 2,500 of whom do not have access to shelter. The homeless population is even larger and conditions are worse in Tijuana, where individuals and families deported from the United States have filled shelters beyond capacity, and created semi-permanent encampments in several part of the city. We know that a variety of factors push people into homelessness – poverty, violence, substance abuse, and mental illness. And we know immigration status can exacerbate all of these factors, particularly in a border town like San Diego.

In the face of this kind of need, what does it mean to be a “good neighbor?” How can we expand our understanding of citizenship to include kinds of community membership and belonging that transcend formal legal categories and national borders? How can you get involved as a student, a teacher, or simply as a good neighbor?

Wednesday, September 3
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Joan B. Kroc Institute of Peace and Justice Theater
University of San Diego

Panel Discussion:

• Moderator, Mark Sauer, KPBS News
• Ruth Bruland, Executive Director of St. Vincent de Paul Village
• Lt. Debra Farrar, San Diego Police Department, HOT Team
• Everard Meade, Director, Trans-Border Institute, USD
• Michael Lovette-Colyer, Assistant Vice President and Director, University Ministry, USD

The event is free and open to the public and the media.

About the University of San Diego

Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is the youngest independent institution on the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 universities in the United States. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.