With unemployment at 11.6 percent in Santa Cruz County and a dearth of affordable housing, the number of homeless people living in Santa Cruz has increased by 22 percent over the past two years. Official numbers say that there are 2,771 homeless people now living in the city, compared to 2,265 in 2009, the last time a poll was taken. About half of all the homeless people live in the city of Santa Cruz. Scotts Valley, which had no homeless people in 2009, now has 13.
With unemployment at 11.6 percent in Santa Cruz County and a dearth of affordable housing, the number of homeless people living in Santa Cruz has increased by 22 percent over the past two years. Official numbers say that there are 2,771 homeless people now living in the city, compared to 2,265 in 2009, the last time a poll was taken. About half of all the homeless people live in the city of Santa Cruz. Scotts Valley, which had no homeless people in 2009, now has 13.
The most shocking statistic, however, was the rise in the number of people aged 25 and younger with no place to call home. In 2009, there were only 34 in the county, but now their number has increased to 99.
The census of homeless people was conducted to determine how much money would be received in federal funding to help alleviate the problem. Currently the city receives about $1.7 million in federal grants to fund programs such as shelters and job training. With budget cuts to social programs among the first thing to be cut in the ongoing debt ceiling and budget negotiations in Washington, however, even this amount could be slashed. Read more at Santa Cruz Sentinel.
