It's been a trend for the past two years: Every month more people in San Diego County have entered homelessness than have found housing.
The Regional Task Force on Homelessness (RTFH) found that trend continuing in March. Its latest report said 1,337 people became homeless for the first time last month, while 1,226 were housed.
The difference between those numbers: 111 people. It's the smallest gap since RTFH began publishing a monthly report. For February, the agency found a gap of 154 people.
One San Diego housing advocate found the latest numbers hopeful.
“When I see the data from the RTFH, what really stands out to me is that 1,200 people made it home last month," said Tyler Renner with the nonprofit People Assisting The Homeless, or PATH.
Renner said it’s more useful to look at trends than just one month’s numbers.
“It shows me that our system is working, that we’re working with providers, cities, and counties to really make sure that we have a robust network of care," he said.
Renner said while the city removes people from the streets, the focus must also be on preventing them from being there in the first place.
“Focusing on the prevention, keeping people in their homes, and also increasing the supply of affordable housing, it’s the front end and the back end that really need to be addressed," Renner said.
It's a sentiment echoed by RTFH CEO Tamera Kohler, who sent us a statement saying in part, “This sobering anniversary reveals the continued impact of high housing costs, and low housing stock, on our region."
The statement calls for "abundant housing for people of all income levels, keeping people in their homes and quickly ending homelessness if they experience it.”
Kohler has been in Washington D.C. this week, working with Congress on this very issue. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has also been in Washington, as part of a delegation led by the San Diego Chamber of Commerce to advocate on regional issues.
His office sent this statement saying, “The number of people becoming homeless is largely a result of our housing affordability crisis, which Mayor Gloria has made a top priority," and stating that "2023 was a banner year for housing, "with 83% more new housing permits issued in the last year over 2022, over a quarter of those for low-income residents."
Earlier this month, Gloria announced a proposal for a 1,000 person shelter on Kettner Boulevard. It was supposed to go to the city’s Land Use and Housing Committee on Thursday, but was pulled from the agenda.
The Mayor’s office said it needs more time to work on responses to questions from the Independent Budget Analyst.
