SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The latest point-in-time count is giving the greater San Diego region a clearer understanding of how the homelessness crisis is being addressed.
“This is an annual census,” Tamera Kohler, CEO of the Regional Taskforce on Homelessness, said
On Friday, the latest numbers from the one-night countywide count were released for the San Diego region.
“We're encouraged by some of the information, right? We saw 11% reduction in unsheltered, so that's people on sidewalks, in vehicles, and places not meant to be slept in,” Kohler said. “We saw a 12% increase in folks in shelter. We also saw more utilization of the shelter. We had some new shelter beds come online.”
Kohler and the Taskforce conducted the annual count.
“Overall, it's a really modest 1% reduction, about, you know, on one given night, now we had 9800 people experiencing homelessness,” Kohler said.
ABC 10News asked Kohler what her response would be to those wondering where the money is going for that modest decrease in these latest results.
“We have nearly 40,000 people touching the system throughout the entire year. So those investments are really to move thousands of people every month into housing, ending their homelessness,” Kohler said. “On the Count, we actually get to see how we're using our capacity, how many shelter beds, right? How many people we've changed this population.”
The Regional Taskforce on Homelessness is reporting encouraging numbers from the 2026 data, showing that the number of veterans living on the street dropped by 12%, those aged 18 to 24 dropped by 26% and those living in cars dropped by 14%.
“So, investments go really in those populations you see reductions. You see them moving from street to shelter to housing, which is the movement we really want to see, but we need more of that,” Kohler said.
The region is seeing an increase in homelessness among seniors, who make up a third of the population. The oldest person recorded in the count was 86 years old.
Kohler told ABC 10News there’s still plenty of work to be done to tackle homelessness.
“And I think it's important to remember behind all these numbers up, down, there are people,” Kohler said. “People who need our best efforts, the taxpayers who fund these programs need our best stewardship and efforts, and the people that are out there need our best efforts to really give them safe, appropriate pathways out of this.
