More than 1,400 people experiencing homelessness in Anaheim

There are more than 1,400 people experiencing homelessness in Anaheim, according to the latest point in time count numbers released this week, the highest number of unhoused people recorded in recent years.

“The new numbers are astounding,” said Mike Robbins, president of People’s Homeless Task Force Orange County. “We are fighting a losing battle.”

Every two years, the county counts who is experiencing homelessness, both in shelters and on the streets. The county reported 28% more people experiencing homelessness than the last count in 2022; the increase was about 7% from the pre-pandemic 2019 count.

Anaheim saw a 31% increase in homelessness over that same period, though the majority of the increase came from housing more people in shelters.

“It is not unexpected and we never want to see the number go up,” said city spokesperson Mike Lyster. “We know this is a situation that is bigger than Anaheim.”

Anaheim has had more than 1,000 unhoused residents since 2019. The city frequently cites homelessness as a top issue that residents want addressed and spends $60 million annually to address homelessness.

The city won’t reach its goal set a few years ago of reducing its unsheltered homeless population by 70% by July 2024.

The point in time count snapshot recorded 601 people living unhoused in Anaheim when the survey was conducted in January.

Another 816 people were living in shelters. That count includes the 325-bed Anaheim Emergency Shelter, the county’s Bridges at Kraemer Place, which can serve up to 200 people, and a collection of smaller shelters that work with the city to house people.

For the first three months of the year, the city reported about 1,450 outreach contacts from almost 5,000 dispatch calls.

The areas where city officials are seeing homeless people live are near freeway on-ramps and railroad tracks, places where city staff can’t work alone to clear encampments, Lyster said.

Robbins said he was not surprised by the increased count since the nonprofit he volunteers with has been handing out more food than ever to unhoused residents.

Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava said it’s important that the city ensures its homeless population is getting the services they need. She highlighted the importance of getting people who are newly homeless the services to prevent their situation from getting worse.

“Those are the people that we need to make sure we can capture right away and help prevent long-term homelessness,” Rubalcava said. “The longer they are out of the street, the harder it is for them to transition back into housing.”

Those policies might include lengthening eviction notification periods and requiring renters to be provided relocation assistance for no-fault evictions.

New strategies to help address the crisis continue.

This August, Anaheim and Costa Mesa will be part of an expansion of CalOptima Health’s Street Medicine Program. The program brings primary health care and case management help to places where people experiencing homelessness are.

Also, the state in April awarded the city a $3.1 million grant to help house people living in encampments near the 91 Freeway and North Lemon Street.

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