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We Are BSL

Building Bridges of Hope

A stable home helps our residents get adequate treatment and start on the path toward recovery. BSL's supportive housing combines affordable housing with coordinated services to enable our residents to live as independently as possible.

About Us

Big Sister League of San Diego (BSL) is a nonprofit organization providing transitional and permanent supportive housing for adult women. The Big Sister League has provided housing for women in San Diego for over 70 years. Our staff manage two 15-bed residences in the Hillcrest area and provide day programming for our residents. BSL's services are designed to assist women affected by mental health issues, homelessness, trauma, and domestic abuse. As such, BSL requires residents be under the care of a psychiatrist to meet additional mental health needs.

THE HOUSING

BSL provides transitional and permanent supportive housing for adult women. Our staff manage two 15-bed residences in San Diego and provide day programming for our residents.

THE WORK

Our residents are required to participate in community activities to promote independence. This typically takes the form of volunteer work, adult education courses, or seeking employment.

THE GOAL

Our goal is to provide a safe environment for women, help them increase independence and self-esteem, assist with realistic goal attainment, have regular contact with their families, and become involved members of their respective communities.

Mission

Our mission is to provide supportive housing for women affected by mental illness, homelessness, trauma, and domestic abuse with services designed to encourage confidence, self-esteem, and independence.

Vision

We are dedicated to bettering women's lives with resident-centered, recovery-oriented, supportive housing services and programs.

Values

Helping

We commit to helping women live stably in the community.

Optimism

We foster an environment of optimism for the women we support.

Partnership

We partner with value-aligned people to expand our reach.

Empowerment

We empower women to gain independence and change their life.

Staff

Amy Diffley

Executive Director

Amy joined Big Sister League of San Diego in July 2019. She brings more than eight years of insight and experience to her position at BSL.

Nuria Haro-Lopez

Housing Director

Nuria joined the BSL team in May 2020 and manages both the Redwood and Fourth Ave. houses. She recently graduated from UC San Diego with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a specialization in Clinical Psychology.

Sami Rogers

Program Coordinator

Sami Rogers has been with the Big Sister League since September of 2020 and has been serving as the Program Coordinator since November.

Our History

Big Sister League of San Diego was established to serve the needs of women and children unable to find suitable housing in San Diego. During the war, many women traveled to San Diego to join husbands and boyfriends only to find that the men had already been sent to fight in the Pacific. Pursuant to local law, any woman without housing and on the street after 10 p.m. was taken to jail and separated from her children who were sent to Hillcrest Receiving Home.

Addressing this crisis, Mrs. Frances Woods and a small group of downtown professional women organized the Big Sister League, and the City of Hillcrest donated a home on Front Street to provide housing for 15 women and their children. Nightly, Mrs. Woods and her colleagues arrived at the jail to advocate on behalf of the homeless women, ultimately providing some of them a safe and comfortable place to stay.

To learn more about our history, please click here.

An independent local charitable organization, BSL became a nonprofit corporation in 1942.