Redwood City sees decline in unsheltered population

San Mateo County conducted its biennial One Day Homeless Count and Survey last January, finding that Redwood City saw a 23% decrease in its unsheltered population since 2022. 

People who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness are identified by staying on the streets, in cars, in RVs or in tents. In Redwood City, 189 individuals were identified this way, compared to 245 in 2022. 

This decline can be attributed to the city’s RV Safe Parking Program, a city outreach strategy team connecting homeless people with resources, and the opening of San Mateo County’s Navigation Center, said Teri Chin, Human Services manager with Redwood City. 

“If you combine it all, you have folks out there connecting homeless individuals to county services, and then there are more services available, that combination helped with the reduction,” Chin said. 

The temporary RV Safe Parking Program was established in October 2020, which transitions RVs off of city streets into a safe parking lot, with the goal of allowing participants to work on a path to permanent housing. From 2020 to 2024, 60% of participants in the program ultimately transitioned into permanent housing, Chin said. 

The launch of the Coordinated, Inter-Agency Redwood City Outreach Strategy Team in November 2022 always has connected more unsheltered individuals with available resources throughout the county, Chin said. 

Countywide data shows unsheltered homeless rose by 5%, but the numbers of individuals in shelters and transitional housing rose by 38% between 2022 and 2024. While both quantities went up since 2022, there are proportionally more people sheltered than before. The increase in sheltered homelessness reflects a positive shift, Chin said, as the county increases its shelter capacity. 

The next step in addressing homelessness in the county is to establish more permanent housing, County Executive Mike Callagy previously said at the Board of Supervisors meeting Feb. 11.

“Increasing permanent supportive housing is the only thing that will get us to Functional Zero,” Callagy said. “We cannot have people trapped in interim housing.” 

City specific data only considered unsheltered homeless individuals, as those who are sheltered live in various housing facilities throughout the county. A major addition to the county’s available beds was the Navigation Center located in Redwood City, which provides 240 temporary living spaces with intensive support services. 

“Formerly homeless residents in Redwood City were able to benefit from that,” Chin said. 

The county found 2,130 total people experiencing homelessness in the 2024 One Day County, including 1,145 who were unsheltered in total. Although Redwood City makes up 11% of the county population, its unsheltered homeless population makes up 17% of the total in the county. 

In Redwood City, the majority of the unsheltered population lives on the streets or in encampments, while in the county, the majority live in vehicles, according to the one day count data. 

Of note, 60% of the people experiencing unsheltered homeless in Redwood City identified as Latino, compared to 61% countywide, the data shows. In total, 53% of the homeless individuals in 2024 were Latino, compared to being 24% of the county’s general population in 2022. 

A city-authored blog post sent out Jan. 30 discussed the data’s findings and said these statistics demonstrated a need for “culturally responsive engagement.” 

“To address these challenges, we are prioritizing language access by recruiting Spanish-speaking case managers and focusing on trust-building through active listening and collaboration to develop shared solutions,” the blog post read. 

The only other locations within the county that saw a decrease in its unsheltered populations from 2022 to 2024 was Atherton, East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay and the north and south unincorporated areas. The north unincorporated area includes Broadmoor, and the south unincorporated area includes North Fair Oaks, Emerald Lake and West Menlo Park. 

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