Quick Take
The City of Santa Cruz cleared an encampment near the homelessness nonprofit Housing Matters on Coral Street on Wednesday, just over a week before the county’s annual 2026 point-in-time count of unhoused people.
The City of Santa Cruz cleared an encampment near the campus of homelessness nonprofit Housing Matters on Coral Street on Wednesday, just over a week before the county’s 2026 point-in-time count of unhoused people.
The area around Housing Matters is frequently populated with many people living in tents and is often the subject to sweeps. The nonprofit currently offers drop-in day services, including showers, device charging, rest areas and a mail room. Those are set to close at the end of March.
In an email sent Friday morning, Keith McHenry, co-founder of nonprofit Food Not Bombs, accused the city of timing the sweep to reduce the number of unhoused residents counted in next Thursday’s point-in-time count and scatter the encampment, making it harder to find people experiencing homelessness. Last year’s count saw a 20% decrease in homelessness across Santa Cruz County, with 1,473 estimated unhoused residents living in the county. It was the lowest level ever recorded, and officials expect this year’s count to be higher.
“As someone who has participated in these counts, I know how difficult it is to find people when they are driven out of sight,” McHenry wrote. “Food Not Bombs is seeing a steady increase in the number of people seeking food at our weekend meals. That was also the case before the last point-in-time count.”
City of Santa Cruz spokesperson Erika Smart told Lookout via email that the sweep was part of the city’s “regular, weekly clean-up efforts in that area.” She added that the sweep was not related to the point-in-time count.
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FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated with a response from City of Santa Cruz spokesperson Erika Smart, and to reflect that Keith McHenry accused the city, not the county, of timing the sweep to reduce the number of unhoused residents estimated in the point-in-time count.
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