Redwood City – With a shopping bag slung over an armrest and a hoodie shielding her face, the woman might be mistaken for a dozing traveler, one among the thousands passing through San Francisco International Airport.
But Francisco Valencia took in the scene: worn bag, clothing a bit unkempt, no sign of a carry-on or other luggage. He opened an app on his phone and added the woman to the tally of individuals who were experiencing homelessness on this Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024.
Valencia is one of about 330 social workers, volunteers and local officials who fanned out before dawn to count the number of unsheltered individuals in tents, vehicles, makeshift shelters, parks and elsewhere in San Mateo County.
Teams of mostly two walked streets in Daly City, searched head-high grass along the levee in East Palo Alto and peered around trees in coastal parks with the goal of gathering data that helps inform action.
Officially called the Point-in-Time Count, the tally of “sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January” takes place every two years as required by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“The count provides a critical snapshot of people experiencing homelessness in our community and is essential for measuring trends over time,” said Claire Cunningham, director of the Human Services Agency, which coordinates the local count.
“The knowledge gained from the count along with information from our network of service providers helps inform how we deliver services. We gain a better understanding of the reasons why people are experiencing homelessness and what services can we provide them to help them stabilize their lives.”
Organizers send teams to each Census tract in San Mateo County. In East Palo Alto, for instance, teams tallied individuals living in tents and make-shift shelters along the muddy bayfront.
Familiarity, born of what can be described as enthusiastic persistence, helps.
Following the assigned route through East Palo Alto, Clyde Virges’ phone kept ringing. He’s the lead outreach case manager at WeHOPE, a local nonprofit homeless services agency. A client was on the line.
After some chitchat, Virges said, “It’s 5:30 in the morning. Why are you calling me so early?” The answer: “I saw you driving by!”
Virges and two of his colleagues – one from WeHOPE and another from LifeMoves, which provides shelter and other services to individuals experiencing homelessness – are well known throughout East Palo Alto.
In local parking lot, Virges, driving a van, pulled up to a large RV whose driver said he is between jobs and doesn’t have enough money to repair a tear in the vehicle’s roof. The man says, “Clyde, right? We grew up together.”
“I haven’t seen you in a long time!” Virges said. “Come to church on Sunday and take my number. We might be able to get you a voucher and place to stay.”
Elsewhere, it can be hit-or-miss whether teams locate encampments, as individuals experiencing homelessness move frequently to avoid troubles.
The County has laid out an ambitious goal to achieve what’s called functional zero homelessness, where every unsheltered homeless person who chooses assistance will be provided interim or permanent housing.
This does not mean no one will ever be seen sleeping on the streets. The idea is that homelessness, with proper supports in place, will be rare, brief and one-time.
As an outreach specialist for LifeMoves, Valencia’s work involves building connections with people without housing.
“What I’ve seen we’re running into is the age group that has been connected to social or security or receiving some type of pension,” he said. “And with the high cost of living here, they just can’t afford a place to live.”
With the wet and cold weather, individuals experiencing homelessness seek warm and safe places, including public buildings and crowded areas where they can remain somewhat anonymous.
Since March 2020, the County has added 146 permanent supportive housing units and 409 individual units to address a severe lack of housing available to unhoused individuals. The total includes the County’s first Navigation Center, which offers 240 units for individuals and couples (even pets) along with intensive support services.
The County, with help from state Homekey funds, has also converted five hotels into interim non-congregate housing and permanent supportive housing:
- Coast House (formerly Coastside Inn), a 51-room interim housing site in Half Moon Bay.
- The Pacific Shelter (formerly Pacific Inn), a 74-room interim housing site in Redwood City.
- El Camino House (formerly The Stone Villa Inn), a 44-room interim housing site in San Mateo.
- Shores Landing (formerly Towneplace Suites), a 95-unit permanent affordable housing site for seniors who were previously homeless or at risk of homelessness, in Redwood City
- Casa Esperanza (formerly The Comfort Inn), a 51-unit permanent supportive housing site for previously homeless individuals, in Redwood City.
Two additional hotel conversions are pending.
The County along with its partners send outreach workers to encourage people experiencing homelessness to go to shelters. Yet many resist for any number of reasons.
Calling it “inhumane” to leave residents experiencing homelessness living in illegal and often unsafe encampments on public property when there are available shelter beds, the Board of Supervisors this week approved an ordinance aimed at encouraging them to accept assistance. During a public hearing this week, County officials said about 40 homeless people die in San Mateo County each year and fires at encampments can endanger both occupants and their surroundings.
The County has 15 to 30 unused beds every night, with potentially hundreds more as additional hotels are converted into permanent and interim housing to join the state-of-the-art Navigation Center and other facilities.
Results from today’s count will be tallied and sent to HUD. Additional, outreach workers will follow up today’s count with in-person surveys that seek additional demographic and other information. A final report will be publicly available this summer.
The last count found 1,808 people experiencing homelessness in San Mateo County on the night of Feb. 23, 2022. This number includes:
- 1,092 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness staying on streets, in cars, in recreational vehicles or in tents.
- 716 people experiencing sheltered homelessness staying in emergency shelters and transitional housing programs.
The count is imperfect, said Iliana Rodriguez, the assistant county executive who helped to search SFO. What the count offers, she said, is a “standard methodology” that is used count-to-count and nationwide, revealing trends and a wealth of other data.
Similar counts are being conducted nationwide.
Michelle Durand
Chief Communications Officer
mdurand@smcgov.org