Santa Cruz County’s annual homeless count hit record lows this year, but the numbers mask a troubling rise in older adults and people with disabilities living on the streets, along with increases in Santa Cruz and Capitola as federal aid dwindles.
homelessness
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Let’s stick to facts when we talk about our unhoused problem
Don Lane, former Santa Cruz mayor and a longtime community housing advocate, takes issue with a recent Lookout op-ed on the unhoused. Lane acknowledges some points but pushes back on many of the underlying assumptions, particularly that the city is a “magnet” for people from other places seeking housing.
Posted inLatest News
$250,000 grant awarded to the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County
Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County received a one-time grant of $250,000 from Dignity Health to help strengthen short-term housing services.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
How Santa Cruz’s homeless efforts are making things worse for the city … and for the homeless
Santa Cruz’s well-meaning homeless policies are backfiring, drawing more unhoused than the city can support, writes Craig James, who grew up here and returned as a retiree. He calls for a coordinated state and national strategy, warning of disproportionate consequences without shared responsibility.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
A promise of shelter, but not soon enough: Pajaro River levee residents face uncertain future even as ‘tiny village’ breaks ground
As construction finally begins this week on the 34-unit “tiny village” shelter intended to house people living along the Pajaro River levee, time is running out for residents to figure out their next move as an encampment cleanup could happen sooner than the anticipated opening of the shelter.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Construction on 34-unit ‘tiny village’ shelter in Watsonville set to begin next week
Construction on the 34-unit “tiny village” homeless shelter at Westview Presbyterian Church in Watsonville is set to begin next week. It is anticipated to open at the end of the year.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California, epicenter of nation’s housing crisis, is finally getting a housing agency
Aside from giving housing and homelessness its own box atop Gov. Gavin Newsom’s organizational chart, the reorg is supposed to simplify the state’s snarled affordable housing financing system.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
We won’t solve homelessness in Santa Cruz County until we face this one truth
Nearly 90% of people experiencing homelessness have endured significant trauma before the age of 18. And those who have adverse childhood experiences are also more likely to develop serious mental health conditions, writes Kevin Norton, a public health professional and trauma survivor. He urges Santa Cruz County to expand trauma screening and public education, especially if we want to truly support unhoused people.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Facing eviction in encampment sweeps, homeless residents along Pajaro River levee brace for uncertain future
Homeless residents along the Pajaro River levee face displacement from planned sweeps for safety and levee repairs, leaving them anxious about limited housing options and what will happen to their belongings and pets.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘The governor is running for president’: Newsom’s homelessness critique finds few fans in Santa Cruz County
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants local jurisdictions to “take back the sidewalks” from homeless encampments; leaders in Santa Cruz County have largely pushed back against what they say is mostly talk from the state’s top political leader.