California Can't Seem to Win Its Battle with the Homeless Issue

Why is it that one of the main discussions in San Diego County is about the homeless and our need for more housing...more housing...more housing?

Top Ten States with the Most Homeless

According to US News in an article about The Top Ten States With The Most Homeless People, California was listed in the number one position. Looking at their statistics, California has a whopping 187,084 people without homes. California and New York share the bounty of homelessness across the US with a total of 345,103 people.

With the number totaling around 546,985 across ten states, California and New York lay claim to about 63% of of that. That could be the reason why we never can seem to get a handle on it. Those numbers are constantly rising because who wouldn't love to live in California's climate?

Here are the top ten states and their homeless populations:

California (187,084)

New York (158,019)

Washington (31,554)

Florida (31,362)

Massachusetts (29,360)

Texas (27,987)

Illinois (25,832)

Oregon (22,875)

Colorado (18,715)

Arizona (14,737)

States That Help Homeless People the Most

Smile Hub rated all 50 states by States That Help Homeless People the Most. The ranks included: overall; shelters and housing support; homeless youth support; and food and health support.

California ranked 21st on on the list.

Here are the top ten:

How Much Would it Cost to House the Homeless in California?

Projecting information from the entire state, California would have to commit about $10 billion a year for a decade ($100 billion) just for housing. Social and medical services tacked on to that amount add up to more billions just to keep the newly housed from dropping out. How can California manage this?

San Diego's Mega Shelter Plan is Dead in the Water

A 1,000 bed homeless shelter was planned at Kettner Boulevard and Vine Street. The cost for "Hope @ Vine" would be about $30 million to operate yearly and millions more to lease the building. That plan is no longer being considered.

Lisa Halvertadt wrote an interesting article about it —The Middletown Mega Shelter Plan Is Dead—in the Voice of San Diego.

Where Are The Existing Shelters?

To find a shelter in San Diego, click on Homeless Strategies and Solutions. There are eighteen shelters listed. Each listing gives the address, population served and how many beds they have. Shelter clients are allowed domestic pets, couples/partners, personal belongings and the right to enter and exit freely.

There is no limit on how long a person can stay. The goal is to assist shelter clients in stabilizing and accessing services to find permanent or longer-term housing.

There are a total of 1,405 shelter beds in San Diego. The City also operates two Safe Sleeping sites with the capacity for more than 700 tent spaces.

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