Volunteers from all over Santa Cruz County met at the crack of dawn Thursday to conduct this year’s point-in-time count, an annual attempt to estimate the number of unhoused community members. While the count is never complete, housing professionals hope that a few changes to their strategy will help generate a more accurate count this year.
Point-in-time count
Coverage of efforts to count Santa Cruz County’s homeless population.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
We’re reducing homelessness in Santa Cruz County; now we must fight to keep the funding
Santa Cruz County is bucking national trends, significantly reducing homelessness through sustained investment, coordination and compassion, writes Mer Stafford, the chair of the Coalition to End Homelessness in Santa Cruz County. But, with this year’s point-in-time count happening Thursday, those gains are now at risk as state and federal funding for housing and homelessness programs face deep cuts. Losing this support would push hundreds of people back into homelessness and undo years of hard-won progress. Stafford urges residents to contact local and state leaders to protect the funding that’s working.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Sweeping encampments to ‘reduce’ homelessness is a Santa Cruz numbers game — not a solution
Clearing the Coral Street encampment days before the point-in-time count won’t house anyone — it just hides the problem, writes Food Not Bombs founder Keith McHenry. By scattering unhoused people out of sight, the City of Santa Cruz can claim progress while worsening daily survival. McHenry writes that he sees up to 200 people every week in rising meal lines in the city and folks complaining about lost tents and property. If Santa Cruz wants honest data and real solutions, he believes we have to stop mistaking displacement for success.
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 inOpinion from Community Voices
What PIT count says about county homelessness numbers: We are making progress amid uncertainty
Robert Ratner, director of Housing for Health for Santa Cruz County’s human services department, and Larry Imwalle, director of Homelessness Response & Community Programs for the City of Santa Cruz, interpret the point-in-time count numbers, which were released last week.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz County homeless count shows uneven progress as budget cuts loom
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.
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.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Annual point-in-time count sees Pajaro River levee homeless encampments shift from Watsonville to Monterey County
Santa Cruz County’s annual homelessness count revealed a dramatic shift, with one group of volunteers spotting only three people along a stretch of the Pajaro River levee in Watsonville after most residents moved to the Monterey County side following a July sweep.
Posted inLatest News
Dramatic shift in homeless from Santa Cruz to Watsonville has officials scrambling to provide services
A dramatic shift in Santa Cruz County’s homeless population, with more being counted in Watsonville this year than the city of Santa Cruz, has officials scrambling to provide more shelter beds and services in the southern part of the county. Watsonville will consider a tiny home village project at its city council meeting on Tuesday, and is convening a community meeting on the broader issue of action to confront homelessness on Oct. 5.