Quick Take
A recent letter to the editor echoes real frustration about homelessness in our community, but relies on factual inaccuracies about Housing Matters, writes Ray Bramson, president of the nonprofit’s board of directors. For four decades, Housing Matters has provided shelter, health care-linked services and housing support to thousands of Santa Cruz County residents each year. Claims that the organization causes harm or is abandoning fully county-funded day services aren’t true, he writes. Progress on homelessness depends on accuracy, collaboration and shared responsibility — not misplaced blame.
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In a recent Lookout letter to the editor, David Davis criticized Housing Matters and its leadership. I share his frustration with our community’s inadequate response to homelessness, and I respect his long-standing advocacy.
However, his letter includes several factual inaccuracies about Housing Matters that warrant clarification. Homelessness is a complex, systemic challenge. Placing responsibility for its persistence on a single organization does not move our community closer to solutions.
Davis writes, “They [Housing Matters] are doing more harm to the people experiencing homelessness in Santa Cruz than any other organization.” This is a serious claim, and it deserves to be examined against the facts.
For 40 years, Housing Matters has provided emergency shelter for adults, families and children. We’ve also provided recuperative care for people discharged from hospitals, outreach, supportive services, compassionate case management and housing navigation services. Each year, these services reach more than 4,000 people experiencing homelessness in Santa Cruz County. We meet individuals where they are and support their transition into stable housing.
In 2025, more than 400 people moved into stable housing with the support of Housing Matters staff. Several hundred more retained their housing through ongoing supportive services. Approximately 85 unhoused individuals were discharged from hospitals into the recuperative care center rather than back to the street. They received nursing care, meals, interim housing and assistance to secure permanent housing.
More than 100 unhoused families with children received interim housing, meals, and comprehensive housing support. Additionally, nine people currently live in permanent supportive housing at Casa Azul, a building owned and operated by Housing Matters.
These outcomes reflect tangible harm reduction and life-stabilizing support for our neighbors.
Davis also states that Housing Matters is “ending their fully-funded-by-the-county day services programs.”
This is incorrect. While Housing Matters has provided day services, such as showers, restrooms and device charging, for decades, these services have not been fully funded by the county. The only day service fully funded by the county was the mail service, providing mail to more than 1,700 unhoused or housing-insecure people annually. The remaining services have long relied on pieced-together funding from other sources.
Davis further suggests that Housing Matters leadership “needs to take stock of their own organization.” In practice, this kind of reflection is ongoing and central to the organization’s work.
One outcome of that process, undertaken with broad community support, was the decision to develop permanent supportive housing on the Housing Matters campus.
The Harvey West Studios project, now nearing completion at the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 9, will soon provide 120 studio apartments with supportive services for formerly unhoused people. As planning for Harvey West Studios progressed, it became clear that adding 120 permanent residents to an already heavily used campus would strain capacity and compromise the well-being of both new tenants at Harvey West Studios and existing shelter participants.
This assessment led to the difficult decision to discontinue drop-in day services at the Coral Street campus.
The importance of day services to the unhoused community is not in dispute. City and county officials, people connected with Housing Matters and other nonprofit providers are actively developing plans to offer hygiene and other essential services at new locations across the county.
Constructive progress on homelessness requires collaboration, accuracy and shared responsibility. Criticism that overlooks facts risks undermining effective services without advancing solutions. I hope those concerned about gaps in day services will join in the work of building what comes next, so our community can better meet the needs of everyone who calls Santa Cruz home.
Ray Bramson is board president of Housing Matters.