Solutions for Change buys Green Oak Ranch property

After more than one year of negotiating and a late push by San Diego County, the Vista nonprofit secures deal to purchase 110 acres, expanded homeless, addiction services

Vista-based nonprofit Solutions for Change announced Thursday it signed a purchase contract for 110 acres at Green Oak Ranch. File photo

VISTA — The wait is over as relief has swept over hundreds, if not thousands, of residents.

Vista-based nonprofit Solutions for Change announced it signed a purchase contract on Thursday with Green Oak Ranch for 110 acres for $10.5 million on the property off Sycamore Avenue.

Solutions for Change was initially approached by Green Oak Ranch in June 2023 to consider purchasing the property. After a thorough, competitive vetting process, the organization was selected as the preferred new owner, and a Letter of Intent was signed in February, according to Solutions for Change Chief Executive Officer Chris Megison.

Solutions for Change will take possession of the land in the first quarter of 2025 and will use the intervening time to meet with interested community stakeholders to discuss future uses of the site.

“For more than 25 years Solutions for Change has been working collaboratively with the community to solve family homelessness and crush the churn of dependency,” said Chris Megison, the founder and CEO of Solutions for Change. “Our vision is to build upon the legacy of both our organization and Green Oak Ranch to elevate our community’s ability to address the root causes of homelessness and end the cycle of poverty.”  

The visibility of the property exploded in May when Supervisor Jim Desmond put forward and item for the county to purchase the land for $12 million. The board approved the item and Desmond said a county facility would be a treatment center with other services and not a homeless shelter, a fear of many residents.