Two Vital Victories for Our Community
- Media
- May 6, 2025
- 2 min read
I’m proud to share great news from today’s Board of Supervisors meeting: We delivered two critical wins for San Diego County.
First, my legislation to end veteran homelessness has passed.
San Diego is home to more than 240,000 veterans—heroes who served our country with honor. Yet too many are left homeless, struggling with mental health challenges and locked out of an unaffordable housing market.
Today, we took action. This isn’t another study or empty promise—this is a real, actionable plan to ensure no veteran is left behind.
Here’s what we’re doing:
Exploring a landlord assurance fund to incentivize housing for veterans
Creating a veteran-specific by-name list to track every homeless veteran and connect them to services
Launching a campaign to recruit more landlords into the HUD-VASH housing program
Coordinating across cities and agencies to close gaps and get veterans housed faster
We owe our veterans more than thanks—we owe them solutions. Today, we delivered.
Second, we took action to protect young athletes by expanding access to life-saving AEDs.
Families and coaches across my district have shared their concerns about the lack of access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) at youth sports events—especially in private leagues and rural areas. For too many teams, these devices are out of reach financially.
With today’s vote, the County will begin developing a program—whether grants, rebates, or another funding option—to help sports organizations access these life-saving devices, starting in our unincorporated communities.
Every child deserves a safe environment to play. No family should suffer a tragedy because a team couldn’t afford an AED.
Today, we stood up for our veterans, our youth, and our community’s future.
I’m grateful for your support and honored to continue fighting for the priorities that matter.
Stay tuned for more updates from today’s meeting—and as always, thank you for trusting me to serve.
by San Diego County District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond | May 6, 2025
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