Homelessness reaches 10-year high in Fresno, Madera region. What’s behind the increase?

Tim Sheehan
·7 min read
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The number of people who are homeless in Fresno and Madera counties is at its highest point in at least 10 years – but it could be much worse if not for efforts to develop more shelter options for those living on the streets.

And rather than abating, the factors believed to be driving homelessness are being magnified, even as some shelter facilities are out of commission while being converted to longer-term housing options.

Laura Moreno, chairperson of the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care, reported this week that almost 4,500 homeless persons – those unsheltered on the streets or in some form of emergency or longer-term shelter – were counted earlier this year in the agency’s annual Point-In-Time census – a snapshot of the homeless situation on a given date.

The 2023 Point-In-Time count was conducted by a cadre of volunteers on Jan. 24. But Moreno, a program manager for the Fresno County Department of Social Services, is under no illusion that the count is completely accurate.

“I’m absolutely sure that we’re missing people,” Moreno told The Fresno Bee on Thursday, after the two-county organization issued its counts. “We have a lot of outreach people who go out on a regular basis with social service agencies, with police in different cities. So we have a really good sense of where to look.”

But, she added, the transient nature of the homeless population means that it can be easy to miss some of the people, who seldom are just out in the open and easy to see. “We have to get people down the embankments” of highways, roads and streams “because for them, it’s dangerous to be out in the open.”

The 2023 count – based in part on an eyes-on count of individuals, estimates based on population formulas for some ZIP codes, and the known population of homeless persons in various shelters – included:

  • Fresno city: 1,819 unsheltered, 1,388 sheltered, total 3,207 homeless.

  • Fresno County: 594 unsheltered, 11 sheltered, total 605 homeless.

  • Madera city: 205 unsheltered, 336 sheltered, total 541 homeless.

  • Madera County: 140 unsheltered, no sheltered, total 140 homeless.

The total estimated homeless population of 4,493 across the two counties represents a 6.6% increase from the 2022 count, and is the largest number since at least 2014, according to figures from the FMCoC.

Men accounted for 63% of those experiencing homelessness, compared to 36% female, and 1% who were transgender nor non-binary.

By age, 85% of the homeless were between the ages of 18 and 63; about 9% were children under 19, and 6% were 64 or older.

AT 70%, whites made up the largest racial segment of the homeless population in the two-county region. About 16% were Black, followed by 7% American Indian or Alaska native, 3% Asian, 3% who identified as multi-racial, and 1% native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

Hispanic or Latino persons of any race represented 51% of the area’s homeless, compared to 49% non-Hispanic.

Additionally, 19% of homeless adults in Fresno and Madera counties said they were survivors of domestic violence, and 6% were military veterans.

Over the past several years, the Fresno Housing Authority, in partnership with the city of Fresno and other agencies and armed with significant awards of state money from Project Homekey and other initiatives to combat homelessness, has purchased numerous motels in Fresno and converted them into emergency shelters and other homeless housing projects. Other organizations, including the Marjaree Mason Center, the Poverello House and the Fresno Mission, also operate shelters in the area.

And while those efforts are making a dent in the need, it’s still not enough, Moreno said.

Battling homelessness is “a big endeavor, a huge endeavor,” she told The Bee. “It would be significantly worse if we didn’t have those projects. If not for those – oh, my gosh.”

Available shelter resources shrink temporarily

But some of those facilities are now going through conversions into longer-term shelters, including rapid rehousing or permanent supportive housing and are offline – beds that aren’t currently available to house people even on an emergency basis. ”Those are what we have been using as shelters,” Moreno said.

That means in the next couple of years the region may see a dip in available beds and an increase in the unsheltered population, she added, “but in a couple of years time we’ll have more permanent housing, which will be much better than shelters. … We’ll be better off in a couple of years.”

According to the FMCoC data, the region had a total of 3,814 year-round beds for the homeless and formerly homeless in the 2023 count, and more than 91% were filled. Moreno said those include:

  • 1,480 “emergency shelter” beds that have a low barrier for entry, and offer a place for a person to get a bed and a meal, take a shower and rest for the short term. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, expanded shelter services were available for people to bring their partner, pets and possessions for up to six months while they work toward getting more permanent housing.

  • 349 “transitional housing” beds, intended to provide shelter for up to 18 months for people to help get their lives back in order. Funding for such programs is being reduced, however, in favor of efforts to move people to something more permanent.

  • 441 “rapid rehousing” beds, which provide vouchers or financial support for rental assistance for up to 24 months for someone to find a place, either sharing an apartment or house that they rent on their own with assistance. Facilities provide services to address case management and factors that led to homelessness in the first place, Moreno said. Services are gradually reduced depending on when a person is capable of taking over the rent payments on their own. “It’s tenant based; they decide where they want to live, and they lease it in their name,” Moreno said.

  • 1,491 “permanent supportive housing” beds, frequently for people with mental health or substance-abuse disorders who qualify. Such facilities provide long-term financial support and services on-site. “These are households that, if they were set up on their own and didn’t have support, would not be successful,” Moreno said. “People can exit permanent supportive housing if their situation stabilizes, but they don’t have to.”

By contrast, there were more than 5,100 year-round beds in the various levels of programs at the time of the 2022 count, of which 68% were occupied.

What’s driving increased homelessness?

One concern Moreno said she has is for people who are “chronically” homeless” – individuals who have been out on the streets for a year or longer, often with some sort of disabling condition such as drug- or alcohol-dependency or mental illness. About 33%, or 1,500 of the homeless identified in the 2023 Point-In-Time count, fell into the chronically homeless category.

“I think the longer people live on the street, the harder it is to come back inside,” Moreno told The Bee. “People get tired of trying, tired of being disappointed, and sometimes it feels easier for them emotionally and mentally to just accept their situation as it is.”

The bottom line for the increase in homelessness, however, is poverty and income – factors that were exacerbated when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in thousands of people in the region losing their jobs, even as housing costs such as rent have been rising. In tandem with long-term mental health and substance-abuse issues, it’s proven to be what Moreno calls a “perfect storm.”

Of the homeless adults in the two-county region, 36% said they had a substance-abuse problem, while 33% reported suffering from mental health issues.

While the vast majority of the counted homeless population is in Fresno – not surprising as it’s the largest city in the region, Moreno said – there are few areas that are untouched by people who are living on the streets, even in small rural communities. But in those less populous areas, there are frequently more opportunities for them to camouflage themselves – along canals or wooded river banks on the outskirts of towns rather than in neighborhoods, Moreno said.

One gap in the counts is the ability to gauge how many people aren’t technically homeless, but have unstable housing situations, whether couch surfing on a temporary basis with friends or family, or people who live in their car or stay in a motel until their money runs out.

“We’re getting much better at talking about those who are unstably housed,” Moreno said. “But we can only count those folks if we can find them. If they’re in a motel and paying for their own room for that night, they’re not counted.”