‘Nobody should be without a home’: Santa Cruz County marks record number of deaths of unhoused residents

Jonathan Garza’s name was among 121 read aloud during Thursday morning’s annual homelessness memorial at the Civic Auditorium in downtown Santa Cruz. Through tears, his sister told the gathering of around 100 that he was loved regardless of his struggles.

“It’s super sad to see somebody struggle for a really long time and there’s nothing you can do for them, but love them,” she said. “And I just love him so much.”

It took nearly 20 minutes for speakers to say the names of all 121 unhoused people who died in Santa Cruz County over the past year — and another, unnamed person who died on Thursday morning, raising that figure to 122. Homeless Persons Health Project (HPHP) analyst David Davis said 2023 is the first recorded year in which the county saw more than 100 unhoused deaths.

The event — organized by HPHP along with Housing Matters and homeless advocacy nonprofit Wings — takes place every year on Dec. 21, the shortest day of the year.

HPHP Health Center Manager Joey Crottogini said the event aims both to respect and honor the lives lost in the community and to bring attention to the “collective failure” of the nation and government to address homelessness.

“These are human beings, our family members. These are professionals, co-workers and colleagues, people that are really loved in our community,” he said. “I feel blessed to have gotten to know quite a few of them.”

Crottogini said that of the 122 deaths, 61, or half, were attributed to fentanyl-related accidental overdoses. That’s more than one every week. Just last Thursday, county coroner Dr. Stephany Fiore told a public meeting that the 61 deaths marks a 33% increase in fatal overdoses of unhoused people over last year.

“We cannot underestimate the opioid epidemic,” Crottogini said. “It is certainly not something that only affects people experiencing homelessness, but it is certainly more evident.”

Davis told the gathering that the 61 fentanyl-related deaths were the most ever recorded in the county. He also said that the 122 deaths represent 6.7% of the total unhoused population in the county, based on the point-in-time count estimation of 1,804 people living on the streets and in shelters this year.

Davis shared other harrowing statistics as well. He said that 6.7% of the unhoused population dying this year comes out to about 1 in 15 people. For housed people, the death rate was about 0.7%, or 1 out of every 141 people. That means unhoused people died at over 9 times the rate of housed people.

Davis also said that nationally, about 1 in every 556 people is unhoused. In Santa Cruz, it’s about 1 in every 152 people, and about 75% of unhoused people in Santa Cruz County were already living in the county when they became homeless.

“The majority of people who are homeless in Santa Cruz did not just decide to move here,” he said. “The number of people who work here in Santa Cruz but cannot afford to live here is staggering.”

Davis added that housed men and women who died in the county this year were, on average, 74 and 80 years old, respectively. For unhoused men and women, it was 49 and 47, respectively.

“Housing contributes to our lifespans. Experiencing homelessness at some point in your life literally takes off years,” he said. “These are shocking statistics that shed some light on just how vulnerable the homeless population is.”

Davis reiterated that the county is now the most expensive rental market in the country, which he says is a major reason that many become homeless living here. 

Crottogini said it speaks to the need to consider housing as a human right, as homelessness is “fundamentally a housing issue.” He added that health care needs to be in the same conversation, along with access to clean water and substance abuse treatment. He also said that society as a whole needs to promote harm reduction: “It’s 2023, why are we even asking about this?”

As friends and family members came to the front of the crowd to talk about their lost loved ones, Troy Mason, an unhoused man whose wife died in 2021, spoke angrily about the helplessness many in his position feel — and how he believes society’s priorities are backward.

“We’ve decided that money makes us greater or lesser. All types of people are becoming wealthy and all types of people are becoming homeless,” he said. “Nobody should be without a home, there’s plenty to cut everyone a piece of the pie. You should figure it out if you’re so smart, but you’re not. You’re just rich.”

Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry highlighted the large number of Latin American surnames on the list.

“This is a tragedy that we’re not taking care of these people, many of whom were probably farmworkers in our community,” he said. “And in the end, they die on the streets.”

At the Santa Cruz Homeless Union’s own memorial at the clock tower later Thursday afternoon, McHenry told a gathering of about 20 that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that about 70,000 more people became homeless this year, but, like point-in-time counts, that is a dubious number: “That means it’s probably two or three times that.”

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