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Over $81 million approved to tackle homelessness in California

Vivian Chow

A homeless encampment sits on a street in downtown Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images)

Officials approved more than $81 million to tackle the homelessness crisis in California.

Grants from the Encampment Resolution Fund will be dispersed to 11 communities and 12 projects throughout the state.

The funds will help around 2,693 homeless people move out of encampments and into permanent housing, officials said.

“Everyone deserves a safe and clean place to call home,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “California is moving with compassion and care to help move thousands of people out of encampments and into housing.”

The Encampment Resolution Fund was designed to provide communities of all sizes with the funding to move people living in encampments into housing.

Southern California areas receiving funds include:

– Los Angeles – $2.4 million to serve 40 people and house 40 from along Jefferson Boulevard in the Ballona Ecological Reserve.

– Garden Grove – $1.9 million to serve 300 people and house 50 from along SR 22 to the west of Beach Boulevard.

– San Diego – $3.2 million to serve 90 people and house 60 from the I-15 corridor.

– San Diego County – $5.1 million to serve 75 people and house 56 from encampments near the intersection of the 805 and 54 freeways in the South Bay region of the county.

– Riverside County – $12.1 million to serve 123 people and house 112 that currently reside in the San Jacinto River bottom between San Jacinto and Hemet.

Northern California areas receiving funds include:

– Sacramento County – $17.7 million to serve 750 people and house 150 from the W/X corridor of Highway 50 in Downtown Sacramento.

– Del Norte County – $10.8 million to serve 475 people and house 150 from Elk Valley Road south of Crescent City.

– Redding – $8.4 million to serve 200 people and house 50 from Linden Canyon in west Redding.

– Salinas – $8.1 million to serve 90 people and house 55 from the Carr Lake area in the city.

– Tuolumne County – $6.3 million to serve 50 people and house 30 who currently reside along Highway 49/108 in Sonora.

– Sacramento County – $3.7 million to serve 400 people and house 60 from the Roseville Road area in the northern part of the county.

– Oroville – $1.7 million to serve 100 people and house 65 from sites at Foothill Boulevard and Lower Wyandotte and along Olive Highway.

A recent statewide study focusing on homelessness in California found that in general, the homeless population is aging, disproportionately represents minority groups and is predominantly made up of people who lived in the state before becoming homeless.

A homeless man pushes his belongings at a homeless encampment at Echo Park Lake where social activists, including a coalition of homeless-serving organizations, homeless residents and supporters rally at the start of a 24-hour vigil to block a planned shutdown of a homeless encampment at Echo Lake Park in Los Angeles, California on March 24, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
A homeless encampment lines a street in Skid Row on Dec.14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. ( Mario Tama/Getty Images)
A homeless encampment in Hollywood is shown on May 18, 2023. (KTLA)
FILE – Robert Mason, a 56-year-old homeless man, warms up a piece of doughnut over a bonfire he set to keep himself warm on Skid Row in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. Five major U.S. cities and the state of California will receive federal help to get unsheltered residents into permanent housing under a new plan announced Thursday, May 18, 2023, as part of the Biden administration’s larger goal to reduce homelessness 25% by 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
People supporting renters and a ramp down of the eviction moratorium hold up signs during a Oakland City Council special community and economic development committee at City Hall in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 11, 2023. Eviction moratoriums were set in place across the U.S. at the start of the pandemic and most have expired, but not in the Bay Area cities of Oakland, San Francisco and Berkeley, where housing and rates of homelessness are both high. Housing advocates say low-income tenants still need protections. Oakland’s eviction ban lifts July 15. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
A homeless encampment is shaded by a tree in Sacramento, Calif., on Aug. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
A flooded homeless encampment is seen along California Route 14 in Palmdale, as a tropical storm moves into the area, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
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The University of California, San Francisco Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative conducted the study, which is considered the largest examination of homeless adults in nearly 30 years.

Researchers found that more than 171,000 people experience homelessness daily in California. The Golden State represents about 12% of the nation’s population yet contains 30% of the country’s homeless population.

While homelessness is a complex issue, many survey respondents said that the high cost of housing is one of the main reasons behind their situation.

“The results of the study confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing,” said Margot Kushel, the principal investigator of the study.