Homelessness up 20% in San Mateo County

Officials hope to eliminate the crisis by the end of the year

Homelessness has grown 20% in San Mateo County since the last count three years ago — posing a daunting challenge for a county that has pledged to eliminate the crisis by the end of 2022.

Data released Friday shows 1,808 unhoused people living in the county, up from 1,512 when the population last was counted in 2019. Despite increases in funding, beds and other resources spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, San Mateo County joined Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties in reporting increases in homelessness this year. But even as they reported formidable numbers, San Mateo County officials touted the work they've done so far to move people inside and reaffirmed their commitment to offer everyone a shelter bed or permanent home by the end of this year.

“While our homeless count numbers went up, we know that the situation could have been much worse without all of the support to new programs that were put into place to create a clear path from homelessness to permanent housing,” Selina Toy Lee, director of collaborative community outcomes for the county's Human Services Agency, said during a Zoom event.

Of the 1,808 unhoused people counted in San Mateo County this year, 716 were living in shelters and hotels converted to interim housing. An additional 1,092 were living outside on the streets, in vehicles and in tents.

The rest of the five-county Bay Area released homeless census numbers Monday. San Francisco was alone in seeing an improvement — homelessness there dropped 4% from 2019. Meanwhile, Contra Costa County saw a 35% increase, Alameda County reported a 22% increase and Santa Clara County had a 3% increase.

The numbers come from the federally mandated point in time count, which tallied everyone sleeping in a shelter and everyone who could be seen sleeping outside in tents and vehicles during one night in February. It should take place every two years, but the

2021 count was postponed over worries about spreading COVID-19. This year's count is considered especially important because it marks first time the counties have gotten new data in three years and gives the Bay Area a first glimpse at the pandemic's impact on the homelessness crisis.

Even so, the census is generally viewed as an undercount, as it's easy for counters to miss people sleeping in obscure places or crashing on a friend's couch. But it helps determine how much federal funding counties will get to fight homelessness.

San Mateo County recently announced a goal of essentially ending homelessness by the end of 2022, meaning it would have the resources to provide housing or shelter to every unhoused person who wants to come inside. When new people become homeless, the county would be able to get them rehoused quickly under the county's plan.

The county has opened or is on the verge of opening several new programs that officials say will contribute to the goal of functionally eliminating homelessness. Workers broke ground last month on a new 240-unit shelter and resource center in Redwood City, where individuals, couples and families will each get their own room, and will receive help finding permanent housing and other services. That facility will replace the 110bed Maple Street Shelter.

San Mateo County also used state funding to buy five hotels in Redwood City, San Mateo and Half Moon Bay and turn them into temporary and long-term housing. The funding came from Gov. Gavin Newsom's Homekey program, which helps cities and counties turn buildings into homeless housing.

Three of those properties are up and running, and two will open later this year. But even though more beds are coming online, the percentage of unhoused residents with roofs over their heads hasn't increased since 2019. Unlike other Bay Area counties, where an influx of COVID-19 resources led to more people off the streets and into shelters and temporary housing this year, the percentage of sheltered homeless residents remained about the same in San Mateo County, at 40%.

Of the 1,092 people counted who were living outside, 329 were sleeping in a car or van, 177 were in a tent or encampment and 175 were on the street.

The number of people living in RVs on the side of the road dropped from 494 in 2019 to 287 this year, as the region opened safe parking sites and cracked down on street parking. The county's two safe parking sites held 102 people as of the February count.

The change was particularly stark in Redwood City, according to City Manager Melissa Stevenson Diaz. There were about 140 RVs on the city's streets in 2019, she said during Friday's Zoom event. The city prohibited overnight RV parking without a permit and moved some RVs into a safe parking site, she said. This year, there were fewer than 15 RVs on the city's streets.

Though the number of RV dwellers is down, the number of people in tents and encampments in the county has nearly tripled. And Redwood City has the largest homeless population in the county — 245 people. But Diaz is hopeful the city and the county can get everyone indoors.

“Together,” she said, “I'm optimistic that we can ensure every person in Redwood City and our county has safe housing.”