Dramatic shift in homeless from Santa Cruz to Watsonville has officials scrambling to provide services

For as long as most can remember, Santa Cruz County’s homeless population was concentrated in the city of Santa Cruz. So were shelter beds, social services and organized efforts to confront the issue.

According to the county’s highest-profile measure, the rate of homelessness has shifted dramatically from Santa Cruz to Watsonville over the past two years. Watsonville and Santa Cruz County officials are scrambling to adjust.

In 2022, the annual “point-in-time count,” a single-day measure in each community, found 1,439 homeless people living outdoors, in their cars or in shelters in the city of Santa Cruz, compared to 366 in Watsonville.

Earlier this year, that same count found 673 homeless in Watsonville and, possibly for the first time, fewer in the city of Santa Cruz — only 659.

There is no consensus among public officials as to what has driven the change. But there’s a sense of urgency about the consequences for Watsonville, which will convene a community forum on action to confront homelessness Oct. 5, and hear plans for a “tiny home village” aimed at reducing homelessness at a city council meeting on Tuesday. 

The shift began in 2023, when Watsonville’s homeless population increased by 15% and Santa Cruz’s decreased by 29%. 

The shift was more pronounced this year, with Watsonville’s homeless population jumping another 60% while Santa Cruz’s decreased another 36%.

Prior to 2022, point-in-time reports were conducted every two years, but with the homeless population in Santa Cruz consistently double to triple what was counted in Watsonville. 

The point-in-time counts are a snapshot, and are far from a perfectly accurate indication of homelessness numbers or trends, Larry Imwalle, homelessness response manager for the City of Santa Cruz, cautioned in an update to the public last week. 

He said there’s no evidence linking the decrease in Santa Cruz with the increase in Watsonville, and credited social service outreach and the addition of new affordable housing units in Santa Cruz to that city’s reduction in homelessness. 

“We know there’s a lot of mobility in this population and there are ebbs and flows among communities,” Imwalle said. “We think the decrease in Santa Cruz is really tied to our approach.”

In addition to the shift in population, this year’s count showed dramatic disparity in available services. It found that 275 out of 659 homeless people in Santa Cruz were sheltered, compared to only 90 of 673 homeless people in Watsonville.

Watsonville searching for solutions 

Even though Santa Cruz is almost always at capacity for shelter beds, Imwalle said the city is not necessarily looking to add beds, but rather working with the county to develop more shelter space “regionally” in light of the shift in burden to South County.

In Watsonville, the Salvation Army had to shut down its 24-bed shelter in April due to lack of funding. Other shelters, such as the Pajaro Men’s Center, are usually at capacity, with only a few extra beds a night. 

Santa Cruz County officials recently pointed to a wider lack of resources for the unhoused community in South County and outlined plans to provide more services, such as setting aside $500,000 for a homelessness prevention program. 

Currently, the City of Watsonville has no committee dedicated to addressing homelessness. Among other programs, it has collaborated in the past with the nonprofit Community Action Board (CAB) on a program called “Watsonville Works.” The program’s goal was to train unhoused people in how to stay employed and help them get housed, said executive director Paz Padilla. But it’s planning to pause and relaunch with an elevated program potentially incorporated with the tiny home village project. 

Watsonville also runs a social and community service grants program that every two years awards funding to nonprofit organizations, such as shelters, that are combating homelessness.

Plans to build the tiny home village on the city’s Westview Presbyterian Church property, a project spearheaded by Monterey County Housing and Community Development, will be back before the Watsonville City Council for an update on Tuesday.

Watsonville will hold a community meeting on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 9:30 a.m. to tackle the broader issue of homelessness. City staff will outline ideas to address the issue and also hear concerns and ideas of Watsonville residents, said District 5 City Councilmember Casey Clark. 

Santa Cruz city officials tout efforts 

Imwalle credited Santa Cruz’s efforts to build more affordable housing for the reduction in the city’s point-in-time count. The city also has a three-person team of staffers who go out every day to talk with dozens of people experiencing homelessness to connect them with services. 

Maile Earnest, a homelessness services coordinator with the City of Santa Cruz, said that often outreach workers have to get to know people and develop a relationship of trust before they will take the workers up on connection to mental health, substance abuse or other services.

“Their aim is to provide compassionate tactical support as well as information and referrals,” she said.

Imwalle said there has been no local impact from this summer’s U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing communities to ban camping on public land even if homelessness services aren’t available and subsequent executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom encouraging state agencies and local governments to clear homeless encampments.

“It doesn’t really change our approach to addressing homelessness,” he said. “The City of Santa Cruz is going to take the same approach we’ve been taking the past two-plus years on this issue.”

While Santa Cruz has cleared encampments, including before the Supreme Court ruling, it is done only when one is determined to be a health and safety issue to the people in the encampment and/or the general public. But no encampment is cleared, Imwalle said, unless the city can offer alternatives and services to those affected.

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors took a similar stance on the issue of clearing encampments in a recent meeting in which the rise in homelessness in Watsonville was discussed.

Tiny home village before Watsonville’s city council

A tiny home village, “Recurso de Fuerza,” proposed to be built on the Westview Presbyterian Church property on First Street, is pending approval from the Watsonville City Council. The project is spearheaded by Monterey County, and it’s unique in the state because it involves three jurisdictions – Monterey County, Santa Cruz County and the City of Watsonville, said Roxanne Wilson, homeless services director for Monterey County. 

The Monterey County Housing and Community Development team will present a project update at Watsonville’s City Council meeting on Tuesday. Based on compliance with zoning requirements, Wilson said she expects the proposal will be approved. 

The 34-bed tiny village will be built to withstand floods as the proposed area is identified as a floodplain by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Wilson. The shelter will have 24-hour support services and staffing provided by CAB and supplemental services from CalAIM. 

The tiny village is intended to serve the unhoused population on the Pajaro River levee until June 2026, and will open to the general public afterward. 

“One of the main functions of a low-barrier navigation center is that it has to be housing-focused,” Wilson said. “There will be rapid rehousing and housing navigation services produced out of the center for the occupants who are staying there.” 

Despite Wilson’s confidence in approval, the project has faced criticism from some on Watsonville’s city council. Councilmember Clark said he is concerned about not having the right resources available to those dealing with mental health issues and substance abuse. 

“This is something that CAB has never done before. CAB runs an organization that is Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” said Clark. “CAB has never dealt with people on a human level like this, where someone at 2 o’clock in the morning wakes up and they’re going through withdrawals.” 

The tiny village project has been a goal for CAB for a long time, said Padilla. 

“I can tell you that the team — because we have been working and because we have been doing a lot of collaboration and connecting with the homeless population here in Watsonville — the agency feels that it’s ready to go to that second level,” said Padilla. 

The city has also proposed to Santa Cruz County that the tiny village project be moved near the county’s behavioral health office on Freedom Boulevard, said Clark. If one of the occupants is having a mental health crisis or experiencing substance withdrawal, they’d have access to the services readily compared to the Westview Presbyterian Church property, he said. 

“Homelessness is not a one-solution issue. I truly believe that my colleagues on the council really do have the best interest of the city and its constituents at heart,” Clark said.

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