Quick Take
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. The count showed fewer unhoused residents countywide, but a 31% increase in Santa Cruz. The numbers, they say, tell only part of the story.
Each year in January, Santa Cruz County conducts its point-in-time (PIT) count, a snapshot of how many people are experiencing homelessness in our community. It’s just one tool among many we use to understand the scope of the crisis.
The 2025 numbers released last week reflect both progress and continued complexity. The city of Santa Cruz counted 862 people experiencing homelessness in the 2025 point-in-time count, a 31% increase from last year. But it’s important to note that last year’s count was the lowest since 2015.
Even with this year’s increase, the number of people experiencing homelessness in the city is still 16% lower than it was two years ago (1,028 in 2023) and 40% lower than in 2022 (1,439). Countywide, the total fell to 1,473, a 20% decrease and the lowest on record.
That tells us that while challenges remain, the broader, long-term efforts we’ve invested in are having a real and measurable impact.
But numbers tell only part of the story.
We know the PIT count has major limitations. It undercounts people who aren’t visible or who avoid contact. It doesn’t account for people temporarily doubled up, couch-surfing or in crisis. It’s a snapshot, not a full portrait. But when viewed alongside local program data and community experience, it still offers a meaningful lens into the shape and size of homelessness in our region.
So, while this year’s decline is a meaningful sign of progress, we’re also seeing new and urgent challenges emerge.
More people are entering homelessness for the first time. And three out of four people counted were unsheltered, living in vehicles, tents or in public places not meant for habitation. We’ve seen an increase in the number of people with disabilities experiencing long periods of homelessness.
These trends reflect a tough reality: It’s still too easy to fall into homelessness in our community, and too hard to climb out, especially for people living with disabling health conditions, addiction or trauma.
Our local homelessness response has become more coordinated and data-driven through the Housing for Health Partnership, uniting cities, the county, service providers and people with lived experience. This collaboration has strengthened services, aligned strategies and, as shown in recent PIT count results, supported progress toward reducing homelessness in Santa Cruz County.
A recent example is the joint effort by the city, county and Housing Matters to acquire the Santa Cruz Inn for emergency housing for unsheltered people with behavioral health conditions. By combining Measure K, Behavioral Health Bridge Housing and Encampment Resolution funds, we secured the property and will begin operations this fall.
Progress takes more than good programs. It takes consistent, stable funding, policy and expectations from the federal and state government.
Recent years have brought major one-time state and federal investments into responding to homelessness, including recent funding from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, Encampment Resolution Fund and Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Programs, and the Department of Health Care Services.
These resources are making a real difference, helping local partners invest in significant new infrastructure to address homelessness, from Housing Matters’ Harvey West Studios in Santa Cruz (120 units of permanent housing) to the Behavioral Health Bridge Housing project in Live Oak (32-bed, service-enriched facility for unhoused with behavioral health conditions). And we also have a low-barrier Recurso de Fuerza shelter project in Watsonville that has 34 beds for those living unsheltered along the Pajaro River. These projects represent cornerstone investments that pair housing with vital services, creating lasting pathways out of homelessness.
Now, we face the possibility of losing these opportunities.
The significant reduction of California’s Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) funding and proposed federal cuts threaten the very programs that are beginning to move the needle.
State funding through the HHAP program has been a cornerstone of this work, supporting shelter operations, outreach, housing navigation and more. But funding has been inconsistent, peaking at $6.3 million in 2021 and dropping to $4.4 million in 2025. With HHAP Round 7 expected to provide just $2.2 million next year, that’s a $4 million decrease from the peak. Combined with potential and known federal cuts to housing vouchers, health care, food assistance and supportive services, these reductions present serious challenges.
For example, the federal government is proposing a 44% cut to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Through that agency, more than 5,000 local households (over 10,000 of our community members) rely on rental assistance, including older adults, children and people with disabilities, many of whom were previously homeless.
At a time when we’re finally starting to see movement in the right direction, we can’t afford to lose momentum.
The truth is, no single program or funding stream will solve homelessness. But consistent, stable investment is what allows us to build the relationships, trust and systems needed to connect people to housing and help them stay there.
Effective outreach takes time, consistency and patience. For many people experiencing homelessness, especially those living unsheltered, building trust doesn’t happen overnight. It often requires multiple contacts over weeks or even months to establish a relationship, understand someone’s needs and connect them to services.
Outreach teams work to meet people where they are, both physically and emotionally, offering resources such as hygiene supplies, health services or simply conversation, with the long-term goal of connecting them to temporary shelter and, ultimately, permanent, affordable housing.
It’s slow, human work, but it’s the foundation of any lasting solution.
We’re proud of the work being done in Santa Cruz County. Proud of the staff, the outreach workers, the volunteers and the community members who show up, over and over again, to care, to connect, and to persist even when the path forward feels uncertain.
We’re also honest about where we still have work to do.
We need more housing that’s affordable for a range of income levels but especially for seniors and people with disabilities living on limited, fixed incomes. We also need more high-quality behavioral health and substance use treatment and more tools to intervene upstream, before someone loses their home.
In the city of Santa Cruz, affordable housing units are in constant demand, operating at full occupancy with long waitlists. While new development continues, it’s still not enough, and it will take time to see the real impact of new housing. The fact that 1,600 people applied for just 69 affordable units at Pacific Station South underscores this reality.
The PIT count is a reminder: We can track trends, but we can’t lose sight of the people behind them. Every person experiencing homelessness has a story, a reason they ended up there, and a different set of needs and barriers.
We have made significant progress, and we are cautiously optimistic about the positive impacts this new data suggests. But the bigger picture reminds us there’s still a long way to go.
Our shared goal remains the same: to make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring in Santa Cruz County. There’s no quick fix, but together, we can keep moving forward toward a more just, compassionate and housed community.
Robert Ratner is director of Housing for Health for the Santa Cruz County Human Services Department.
Larry Imwalle is director of Homelessness Response & Community Programs for the City of Santa Cruz.