THE STOCKTON CITY COUNCIL has approved a $1.24 million allocation to support a long-delayed shelter site for homeless residents.
The seven-figure allocation breathes new life into the long-stalled Pathways Neighborhood shelter — an ambitious project first proposed in 2022 but repeatedly delayed due to funding gaps and bureaucratic hurdles. Tuesday’s vote sets the stage for the shelter’s construction to advance, offering 160 units of low-barrier housing and critical services for Stockton’s unhoused population.
The Pathways Neighborhood project was once heralded as a game-changer in Stockton’s response to chronic homelessness. Originally proposed in 2022 and envisioned as a modular, low-barrier shelter built on St. Mary’s Community Services property, the project aimed to provide up to 232 private units — including ADA-accessible and recuperative care options — along with wraparound services like medical care, meals, case management, and 24/7 security.
“What’s exciting about this project is the fact that it’s not only going to meet an emergency housing need in our community and provide services to the most vulnerable in our community, but it’s going to change lives,” then-Mayor Kevin Lincoln said.
Project timeline kept slipping
Backed by local, state, and federal funds, the facility was scheduled to open by October 2024. But construction delays, coordination breakdowns, and shifting priorities among the City of Stockton, San Joaquin County, and the Continuum of Care derailed that timeline. By September 2024, the completion date had already slipped into spring 2025, frustrating advocates and unhoused residents alike.
The delays were not just bureaucratic — they had real-world consequences. Unhoused individuals who camped near the project site were issued 72-hour displacement notices in fall 2024, even as the shelter meant to serve them remained unfinished, according to CBS News.
“So they want us to go to the shelters which doesn’t have any room anyways,” Cutie, an unhoused resident, told CBS when being displaced. “Where are we gonna go?”
“We keep getting funding for emergency solutions grants … but every time somebody’s awarded that funding it’s taking three, four, five, six years to get it open. It’s not really an emergency. They’re not acting as if this is urgent.” Jessica Velez, Red Rabbit CEO
That frustration is shared by frontline advocates working closest with Stockton’s unhoused residents. Jessica Velez, CEO of Red Rabbit, a local homelessness advocacy group, said the city has failed to treat the shelter’s development with the urgency the crisis demands.
“We keep getting funding for emergency solutions grants … but every time somebody’s awarded that funding it’s taking three, four, five, six years to get it open,” she said. “It’s not really an emergency. They’re not acting as if this is urgent.”
Though the city had earlier allocated American Rescue Plan Act funds and sought state grants, progress lagged without fully secured operational funding. It wasn’t until July 2025 that the council reauthorized the project with a fresh resolution, setting the stage for this week’s $1.24 million funding allocation. City documents say the facility will operate between 2025 and 2027, with service to more than 700 unhoused residents.
Sustainability over expansion
The funding aligns with the broader Updated Regional Homelessness Action Plan released in August 2025. The plan emphasizes sustainability over expansion, marking a shift in strategy from building new shelters to maintaining and operating existing ones. Stockton and San Joaquin County have committed to jointly allocating more than $22 million in Homeless, Housing and Assistance Prevention Round 6 funds for housing, prevention, youth services, and administration.
According to the 2024 Point-in-Time Count, homelessness in San Joaquin County has more than doubled since 2022: the total count rose from 2,319 to over 4,700. What’s perhaps most alarming is that about 73 percent of those individuals — the vast majority — remain unsheltered, sleeping in cars, tents, or abandoned buildings. Only about one in four are in emergency or transitional housing.
“The homeless crisis is getting worse every single day,” Velez said. “Rents are continuing to go up and there’s no more jobs being offered here.”
With the council’s approval, Stockton’s long-delayed Pathways shelter is now funded to move forward, part of a regional plan officials say will serve hundreds of residents as the county confronts a homelessness population that has more than doubled in the past two years.
This story originally appeared in Stocktonia.
