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SAN DIEGO — A downtown center that allows homeless people to store their belongings nearly ran out of money before two council members promised to donate $20,000 of their council budgets to keep it running until July.

David Ross and Gerry Limpic, who run the Water Man Check-In Center, believed they might not have been able to pay their employees come Feb. 1. But the pledges of $10,000 each from Councilmen Kevin Faulconer and Todd Gloria on Thursday gave the operators confidence the center can stay open at least until July, when the new fiscal year begins.

The same day, Faulconer sent a memo to the San Diego Housing Commission requesting it look into managing or operating the center in the future.

The center needs nearly $100,000 to house approximately 60,000 pounds of belongings for 350 homeless people every day. For those with no storage space to call their own, it provides the opportunity to job hunt without having to bring suitcases, trash bags or shopping carts along for an interview.

Antonio Gosha, a 22-year-old from Alabama, was kicked out of his sister’s house shortly after moving to San Diego. With no job and no money to go back home, he found himself on the streets eight months ago.

Dirty, often hungry and without anywhere to safely store his few possessions, Gosha had never felt so desperate.

“I was on the verge of killing myself before I came here,” he said. “I know it sounds funny, but my bin gave me hope.”

The Water Man Check-In Center opened in February 2011 as part of a settlement agreement with the city of San Diego after police destroyed the belongings of dozens of homeless people in 2008. The settlement required the city to pay the nonprofit Isaiah Project $100,000 to set up and operate a warehouse for storing the personal property of the homeless.

The money from the city was enough to sustain the project for one year, but a clause in the settlement says the city must make its “best efforts” to ensure the center stays open past its first year if it was operated satisfactorily.

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith’s office would not give specifics on how the city was supposed to fulfill the clause. Spokesman Jonathan Heller said the role of the city attorney was to hammer out the terms of the settlement then leave it to Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City Council to meet the obligations.

The council had a year to come up with a plan, but the funding pledges and the memo to the commission came less than two weeks before Ross said the center’s money would run out. Ross has attended numerous City Council meetings over several months requesting help.

Gloria said creating a plan proved more complicated than they thought, which is why the one-time donated funds from their offices are being used. Additionally, Faulconer said the city wanted to give the Isaiah Project a chance to raise the money on its own.

“It’s in the city’s best interest to help with homeless issues, but it’s not solely the city’s responsibility,” Faulconer said. “This center works plain and simple. We wanted to support it when it became clear the Isaiah Project could not do it on its own.”

The council plans to take up the issue on Jan. 31. Before then, Gloria and Faulconer said they will be asking other council offices to donate to the cause.

The center expects to survive on private donations and grants in the future.