Fresno homeless population count provides sobering reminder there’s no easy fix | Opinion
On a chilly February morning, dressed in a fleece jacket and wool beanie, I observed the city of Fresno’s Homeless Assistance Response Team tear down a tent encampment directly behind two of the Parkway Drive motels that had been converted to emergency shelters and affordable housing.
Out of the 38 people inhabiting the camp, just three (two women and one older man) were offered beds at downtown homeless shelters. Only the man accepted — provided he got the top bunk. The rest packed up their belongings and headed elsewhere.
This past week, wearing shorts and flip flops, I was curious to see what else had changed at the same scene in six months besides my attire.
A new chain-link fence erected around the city-owned portion of the vacant lots prevented the large camp from reforming. Still, three or four tents stood around the perimeter. A few blocks away on Olive Drive, on a vacant lot between another converted motel and a fast-food restaurant, a dozen or so tents stood where none had previously been.
I was instantly reminded of what homeless advocate Dez Martinez said to me on that February morning: “We’re playing ping-pong, except with people.”
Findings included in the 2023 Point in Time count, released Wednesday by the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care, were a sobering reminder of the scale and complexities of the homeless crisis. Regardless of any attempt at a positive spin.
No signs of subsiding
Even though sincere efforts are being made to shelter and house those in our community living on the street, mainly by the city of Fresno and the Fresno Housing Authority utilizing more than $200 million in state and federal funding since 2021, the problem doesn’t show much sign of subsiding.
Every year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires local communities to survey the homeless population. This year’s figure — 4,493 individuals throughout Fresno and Madera counties who were experiencing homelessness — represents a 6.6% increase from 2022.
However, there are mitigating factors that suggest the latest total is likely an undercount. The actual survey took place on the evening of Jan. 24 when overnight temperatures dipped into the mid-30s and the city of Fresno had its warming centers open.
No telling how many folks spent the night in a community center gym rather than out in the elements where they might have been counted.
That in itself may explain why the number of unsheltered homeless in Fresno climbed just 7.3% over 2022 while Fresno County went up 15.6%, and Madera County (180.8%) and the city of Madera (154.5%) both saw massive jumps during the same 12 months.
Simply a hunch.
Numbers rise
Following last year’s survey, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer got a lot of mileage out of the city’s 13% reduction in unsheltered homeless. It was one of his go-to statistics at press conferences.
This year’s 7% bump isn’t nearly as fun to take to Sacramento when Gov. Gavin Newsom asks Dyer, his avowed ally on homelessness, for an update.
But rather than chide the mayor, let’s give Fresno city leaders credit for trying.
One of the more startling figures from the 2023 count is the number of people in Fresno County shelters on the night of the survey: 11. (Down from 27 the previous year.)
Compare that to the 1,388 sheltered individuals within the Fresno city limits, and it makes one curious how Fresno County spent the $90 million in homelessness relief it received over the last three years.
County leaders didn’t spend it providing emergency and temporary housing to the homeless. They abdicated that responsibility and left it to Dyer and the city. That much seems clear.
The bulk of that state and federal funding is intended to convert seedy motels and rundown apartments into permanent housing with subsidized rents. Which, in theory, should ease homelessness by creating more affordable options for those in need.
The city of Fresno has doubled its shelter capacity since 2020, when two months before the pandemic the Point in Time count revealed a startling 45% increase in the homeless population. That’s the good news. But as more of those motels get converted to permanent housing, fewer beds will be available for those who suddenly lose their homes with no more money coming in to replenish the stock.
What happens then? Will we have built enough affordable apartments and tiny homes so that there aren’t even more people living in tents on sidewalks and vacant lots?
Those are the questions that should trouble us after throwing so many resources at a crisis and appearing no closer to a fix.
