ESCONDIDO (KGTV) — The number of people experiencing homelessness in Escondido has dropped about 12% compared to last year, according to the latest point-in-time count released by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.
The report found 271 people were considered unsheltered in Escondido in 2026, down from 307 the year before.
Mayor Dane White credits the trend to the city's partnership with Interfaith Community Services — a North County social service nonprofit — along with Escondido's encampment ordinance and the cleaning out of the Escondido Creek Trail.
"The one thing people need to realize is that the point in time count is a snapshot. But what it does identify is trends, and they are now trending in the right direction," White said.
White said more work remains.
"Realistically, we are never going to solve this problem until we take drug and alcohol and mental health issues seriously in this state," White said.
Interfaith Community Services responded to the report in a statement, saying it partnered with "the City of Escondido and the County of San Diego...recently expand[ing] access to detox beds, enabling 682 individuals to access treatment and housing services last year."
Greer Bohan, who has owned Ginger Road — a gift shop on Grand Avenue — for about six years, said the state of homelessness in the area is much better now compared to when she first started her business.
"We had various encampments and then we went through a situation where they closed the road for seven months while they were doing construction of the roundabouts and that sort of thing, and that increased the encampments here on Grand Avenue," Bohan said.
Bohan said she is hopeful, but knows it is not an easy problem to solve.
"It's a very super complicated situation. So there's no one right answer," Bohan said.
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