In 2015, the annual Point-In-Time-Count (PITC) identified 8,700 homeless individuals throughout our county, nearly 4,000 of whom were unsheltered. These figures represent an increase of three percent over the past year countywide. In the downtown area, there was a 26 percent increase in the unsheltered homeless population.

Homelessness is a national crisis, and San Diego is working to organize our regional network of service providers to better coordinate services.

Chamber’s Position

Achieving a thriving economic environment for business and helping the homeless be contributing members of society are interdependent goals. Homelessness is an issue of poverty that can only be fully addressed through the effective use of evidence-based best practices, the availability of jobs, and unprecedented regional coordination. The Chamber is supporting this regional effort by calling on the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to alter the Federal Funding Formula for Homeless Services. The antiquated formula from 1970 allocates a substantially less than appropriate level of funding to San Diego. San Diego is consistently among the five largest homeless populations in major American cities, however receives dramatically less federal funding than cities with a fraction of the homeless population.

Latest Activity

The Chamber advocates for proportional federal funding for San Diego homelessness services and participates in the Regional Continuum of Care Evaluations Committee. Make your voice heard by sending comments to the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development using our Take Action tool here.

How to get involved

Please contact Sean Karafin, Executive Director of Policy & Economic Research, at skarafin@sdchamber.org if you would like to learn more about what the Chamber is doing to address homelessness and its impacts on businesses in San Diego.

Supporting Information

• Give Me Shelter (San Diego County Grand Jury)
• The 2014 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress
• City of San Diego Housing Element General Plan 2013-2020
• 2015 Point-In-Time-Count Results (Regional Task Force on the Homeless)

News Coverage

• Hope Remains in Homeless Fight (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Downtown Homeless up 26 Percent (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Huge Funding Disparity Lingers for San Diego’s Homeless (Voice of San Diego)
• San Diego takes a big step toward ending homelessness (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego’s homeless on rise (San Diego Union-Tribune)