The $50 million dollar donation towards homeless services is the largest donation of its kind to the Salvation Army in San Diego.
"Our strategy is not to do everything, but try and make a difference," philanthropist Ernest Rady said.
He and his wife Evelyn were honored for their donation on Monday at the Salvation Army's Door of Hope campus in Linda Vista.
"This money, I hope with their management, will make a real difference," he said.
The Salvation Army wants to build two homeless facilities with the money. The first would be at the Door of Hope, where 32 new apartments would be built.
"You read about the issues that San Diego faces and homelessness is number one," Rady said.
“There’s a lot of people out here that want to change their lives and just don’t know how to go about it,” Trinda Pearcy said.
Pearcy went through the Salvation Army’s adult rehabilitation program and now works with homeless families.
"It’s not only getting them into the permanent housing but also getting them the skills and developing the habits to be able to maintain it," Pearcy said. "How to budget money, savings, clearing up your credit, applying for housing."
Construction on the Linda Vista apartments is scheduled to begin next summer. When it’s finished, there will be an additional 140 beds at the Door of Hope in Linda Vista.
The Salvation Army also announced plans to build a homeless facility for men downtown, but that project still needs funding, and there isn’t a construction start date yet.
