A California company is using artificial intelligence to help diagnose homeless Californians. The technology promises better access to health care, but it also raises questions.
homelessness
Posted inLatest News
Coral Street encampment cleared a week before PIT count
The City of Santa Cruz cleared an encampment near 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.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Q&A: Housing for Health director predicts an increase in homelessness during this year’s point-in-time count
Robert Ratner, Santa Cruz County’s Housing for Health director, predicts that next week’s point-in-time count of unhoused people will show an increase in homelessness, which he attributes to federal and state funding cuts and more requests from unhoused residents for help.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Watsonville City Council moves forward with changes to its oversized vehicle ordinance
The Watsonville City Council has approved changes to a local law that could ban RVs and semitrucks from parking along public streets citywide. The ordinance is slated for a second hearing Feb. 10 before being formally adopted.
Posted inLatest News
‘Things are going to get better for me’: Resident moving into Watsonville ‘tiny village’ says the housing will provide her stability
Connie Moreno will be one of the first residents of Watsonville’s long-awaited “tiny village” for people living along the Pajaro River levee. She tells Lookout ahead of move-in day on Monday that the shelter offers stability after years of living along the levee.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz houses 73% of homeless shelter beds in the county. That has to change.
Santa Cruz shoulders an outsized share of the county’s shelter beds, safe-parking sites and day services, despite making up less than a quarter of the population, writes local activist Kevin Norton.
Posted inLatest News
Community gathers to mourn loss of 37 unhoused residents at annual homelessness memorial
Thirty-seven unhoused Santa Cruz County residents died over the course of 2025, out of an estimated 1,728 total homeless residents. While that is just half the number who died in 2024, it is still about 1 out of every 42 people experiencing homelessness in the county.
Posted inLatest News
Mental health organization MHCAN hopes to resume its services; supervisors move to fill Housing Matters mail void
County behavioral health staff met this week with members of the Mental Health Client Action Network board of directors, who say they want to resume services within six months — but need to get past obligations paid first. On Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors took steps to prepare for homelessness nonprofit Housing Matters ending its day services in March, particularly the mail services that are a lifeline for many vulnerable residents.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
City, county of Santa Cruz formally begin process to replace Housing Matters’ day services
The Santa Cruz City Council moved to form a group of city and county staff members to begin exploring options to replace the day services that homelessness nonprofit Housing Matters is poised to halt at the end of March. Staff are expected to return no later than Feb. 28 with a recommendation.
Posted inLatest News
Damage to several ‘tiny village’ units sets back opening of Watsonville homeless shelter by a few weeks
Damage to several of the “tiny homes” under construction at an outdoor shelter in Watsonville has delayed its opening. Monterey County officials say they still hope to move unhoused residents in this month.
