Homelessness on the Rise in San Mateo County

The number of homeless people is on the rise in San Mateo County, but very few live in Belmont, according to census data released last week by the county's Human Services Agency.

In fact, of the 2,150 people counted among the homeless population on Jan. 26 when hundreds of volunteers fanned across the county to check how many people were living on the streets, in vehicles or in camps, only one reported to live in Belmont.

The typical homeless person in San Mateo County is an unsheltered single white male with at least one disability; 56 percent suffer from alcohol and other drug-related problems; and 43 percent have chronic health problems. He is unemployed and his primary barriers to employment are a lack of an address and the disability, according to Goldberg.

Twelve percent are Veterans of War. Forty-six percent are considered "chronically" homeless, meaning they are disabled and have been homeless for longer than 12 months or for at least 4 times in the past 3 years.

Unlike the US Census, which sends neatly packaged forms to residents' doorsteps, counting the homeless is an entirely more complex process.

At 6 a.m. on January 26, 217 volunteers, along with county officials, combed every street in San Mateo County to count the number of homeless people on the streets, in vehicles and various encampments. The snapshot was used to estimate a larger annual number of 6,737 people who will at one point be homeless this year.

Because the homeless are transient, their home city is marked as the one in which the shelter or bedding is located. However, because many live on private property like storage sheds or garages, it is difficult to explicitly identify if people are living in a certain location, Goldberg said. There are also many people who temporarily reside in friends’ or family’s homes.

Despite the increase in homelessness, Goldberg said there was a decrease in chronically homeless people. The number of those living on the street has gone down and the census counters only identified two homeless families living on the streets.

Intervention to End Homelessness

Supervisors Groom and Horsley started the HOPE inter-agency council to combine the efforts of numerous housing organizations that work to help house the homeless.

“Housing, housing, housing,” Wendy Goldberg says. The supervisors agree that the primary way to end homelessness is to provide a variety of affordable housing options.

HOPE and its partner organizations work to see that veterans and disabled residents are receiving the benefits they’re entitled to. Of the disabled, only 13 percent were receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and only 14 percent were receiving Medi-Cal or Medicare.

“We want to end homelessness amongst veterans in the next five years,” Horsley said. The county is working closely with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The agency works intensely with non-profits whose clients have very high levels of homelessness, or are chronically homeless, by working with alcohol and drug treatment and the criminal justice system.

Every year, the county receives approximately $5.7 million from the federal government to address homeless issues, Goldberg estimated.

The total amount the county spends annually could not be immediately determined because multiple departments like Human Services, Mental Health and Veterans Affairs all contribute to homeless services.

Groom called attention to projects like the Vendome Hotel in San Mateo that allots units for homeless people.

“It helps people like Michelle, who was living in the parking lot of Draeger’s. At first she was absolutely petrified because she had never had a room before and hadn’t bathed in a real bathroom in years,” Groom said. “It took good old-fashioned social work to help her.”

“These people are our citizens,” Horsley said. “They are long-time residents of the county and we want to assist them.”

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.