SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Some view the current state of the homelessness crisis in the San Diego region in bleak ways.
“We’re the canary in the coal mine here in San Diego. What happens here will happen in the rest of the country,” said John Brady, executive director of Lived Experience Advisers.
New data from Regional Task Force on Homelessness (RTFH) shows the number of people falling into homelessness continues to outpace the number of people getting into housing across the San Diego region.
“We have more people experiencing homelessness every month than we’re actually able to end their homelessness and house them,” said Regional Task Force on Homelessness CEO Tamera Kohler.
Kohler told ABC 10News this current collection of data is what they’ve been gathering over the course of the last 12 months.
“What we found is for every 10 people who we housed, ended their homelessness, 16 more experienced homelessness for the first time,” Kohler said.
Last year, the number was for every 10 people who exited homelessness, 13 experienced homelessness for the first time.
Kohler said this increased figure does need some context.
“We did this year with the data start to see what we kind of look at as a high-water mark,” Kohler said. “We were not seeing as many people experiencing homelessness for the first time this year; about a thousand less people than we saw last year.”
The RTFH’s latest numbers from October 2022 through September 2023 also showed the following:
- 14,258 individuals experiencing homelessness for the first time (vs. 15,327 from October 2021-September 2022)
- 8,843 individuals exited homelessness (vs. 11,861 from October 2021-September 2022)
“But the challenge is we saw a tightening of a rental market. We saw that one-bedroom housing stock, which we use an awful lot for people experiencing homelessness, have a 30 percent increase in its rent cost,” Kohler said.
The RTFH’s data also showed 45,703 people served this collection period versus 41,345 from October 2021-September 2022.
“So, the longer we don’t build housing, the worse our problems get. And the less likely people can return to society and can be productive members ever again,” Brady said.
Brady added getting more affordable housing is the way to combat the impacts the rental market is having on getting people out of homelessness.
“Something has to give. If we’re going to continue to have a place where everyone can live in San Diego, we have got to build more housing. We really need it now,” Brady said.
“We don’t have enough in any of those areas; not enough affordable, not enough with the level of support, and really not enough assistance to keep people housed when they’re at the cusp of falling into homelessness,” Kohler said.
