On any given night in California there are about 134,000 people without a home, according to annual data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That’s nearly the equivalent to the population of Pasadena or Roseville, sleeping on the street, on a bench or in a shelter.
California’s homeless population jumped 13.7 percent between 2016 and 2017.
Beginning today, the California Dream media collaboration is rolling out an exploration of why people fall into homelessness—and the innovative ways municipalities around the state are trying to help people keep their own place.
According to analysis by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, California has only 22 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income households. Affordability in this case means total housing costs are at or below 30 percent of area median income.
Much of the focus in the last decade has been on getting homeless people housed according to Steve Berg from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Today, “there’s a lot more interest in prevention,” said Berg. “More people are wanting to know what they can try out and what they can do.”
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