You see the hurting
and want to help!

There's more to San Diego than sunshine

Many flock to our city for the gorgeous weather, plentiful jobs, and great educational institutions. But peeling back the veneer of beauty, we're faced with a deep brokenness that stubbornly resists the radiance around it. Our neighbors are struggling with homelessness, hunger, and poverty. Many are excluded from opportunities to thrive. Tragedy and pain lurk just beneath the surface of even the most affluent and well-groomed communities.
Despite the beauty of its sunsets, San Diego’s shadows are as dark as any city’s.

Vulnerable, oppressed, estranged, and abandoned right next door to you

9,000

Homeless

California tops the U.S. for its homeless population, and San Diego ranks fourth among U.S. cities with its persistent problem of homelessness.

$810m

Trafficking profits

Modern day slave owners profit almost as much from trafficking sex as from trafficking drugs. There are as many as 8,000 victims each year in San Diego alone.

Thousands

Forced to flee

Escaping life-threatening circumstances around the world, thousands of refugees are working to build new lives in San Diego.

40,000

Reports of abuse

Each day, 12 children are removed from their homes because of abuse and neglect, with many spending years in foster care without hope of adoption and 2,500 wait in foster care.

You can light up the shadows

Hope for San Diego envisions a renewed city where even the most vulnerable can thrive. You want to be part of making that vision a reality, but the magnitude of the problems can seem overwhelming. You question where to begin. That's why Hope for San Diego offers one place to care for and invest in your under-served neighbors. Together, we can welcome the stranger, love the abandoned, rescue the oppressed, and heal the broken.

Volunteer Donate

“Seeing all these people helping us, just because they want to, really makes me see there is good in the world. I never thought anybody ever would just do good to someone else for no reason.”
Trafficking Survivor
GenerateHope

Our strategic focus areas

Homelessness

Each of the more than 9,000 without homes in San Diego County has his or her own story—often a series of tragic events—that includes such complex issues as unemployment, mental health issues, physical disability, addiction, abuse, and serious health crises. Solving those underlying issues requires an approach that addresses the whole person. By investing in holistic support and recovery, Hope for San Diego seeks life transformation rather than merely more warm beds.

Anti-Sex Trafficking

Traffickers in the growing and insidious sex trade use threats, coercion, and violence, forcing victims to sell their bodies, exploiting human beings that can be sold over and over for tremendous profit. By raising awareness about this hidden blight, Hope for San Diego mobilizes our community to care for the many survivors fighting to rebuild their lives.

Refugees & Immigrants

Refugees and immigrants are some of the most vulnerable in our community, lacking knowledge of the legal, monetary, social, educational, and community systems that are the basic building blocks of life here. Hope for San Diego welcomes refugees and immigrants, offering tools to help them navigate this new system with the goal of building social and economic self-reliance.

At-Risk Youth

Children in the foster care system are drastically under-served and their outcomes reflect that reality: high rates of incarceration, mental health challenges, teenage pregnancy, unemployment, and an exponentially increased probability of being trafficked or homeless. Caring deeply for these most vulnerable of children, Hope for San Diego equips families to foster and adopt, supports these families, and connects volunteers with the needs of at-risk children.