SLO County's homeless services providers are 'bursting at the seams' after COVID peak

Dec. 1—Eric Von Hovore spent most of the height of the coronavirus pandemic in and out of San Luis Obispo homeless shelters.

During that time, he said, he noticed the local unhoused population start to change.

"At first, it was just the people that were (already living) there that were homeless. We stuck together because we trusted one another that we knew that neighborhood ... We more or less didn't see anybody else," Von Hovore, now 60, said. "All of (2019), all of (2020) and then around (2021), they started coming from the big cities."

California's homeless population grew by more than 22,000 people during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from Cal Matters.

California's 2022 point-in-time counts showed that the state's homeless population grew by about 15% over the past three years —increasing by at least 22,500 people to 173,800, the report said.

Local experts say that figure is likely much higher due to the struggles of accurately counting the population.

Over those three years, the number of unhoused people in shelters across California grew to 57,239, while the unsheltered population increased to 116,567, according to the Cal Matters report.

Locally, the most recent point-in-time count in San Luis Obispo County conducted by local service providers showed that the number of homeless people living in the area dropped 2% from 2019 to 2022, to 1,448 individuals.

Local experts on homelessness say the real figure is likely higher, noting that requests for aid rose to previously unseen heights during the coronavirus pandemic.

San Luis Obispo County's already-overburdened homeless shelters are working to find new ways to accommodate the homeless population.

Shelter CEO: 'Impossible' to keep up with homeless population growth

Wendy Lewis, president and CEO of El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO), said the growth of the homeless population in SLO County has stressed the capacity of local homeless service providers. Her organization runs shelters in Atascadero and Paso Robles.

"We're working hard at ECHO to get people back into housing," Lewis said, but it "feels almost impossible to keep up with the numbers (of unhoused people) that are coming into the system."

She called those numbers "just staggering."

SLO County's population of unhoused people living on the street for 12 months or more increased by 31% over the past three years, rising to 83% of the local population in 2022. Meanwhile, the statewide number of people staying in emergency and longer-stay shelters jumped 33% from 42,800 in 2019 to 57,200 in 2022, point-in-time count data showed.

Lewis said local and statewide homeless populations are usually undercounted, meaning the roughly 350 beds in San Luis Obispo County that are available during a given night are often at capacity each night.

"It's one of the hardest parts of our work," Lewis said, "when someone is coming for those services and making that step forward to say 'Okay, I'm ready for shelter, I'm ready to see what I can do to get out of homelessness and back into housing,' and you just don't have enough beds for them."

Von Hovore said he spent time at as many as seven different homeless shelters between 2017 and 2022 before a case worker at ECHO paired him with supportive housing programs at Transitions-Mental Health Association. That allowed him to enter rehabilitation treatment for his drug and mental health issues.

Von Hovore now lives in TMHA-sponsored congregate supportive housing.

"100%, I wouldn't have made it another year out there (on the streets)," Von Hovore said. "This is hard."

Loss of employment and housing due to coronavirus-related shutdowns significantly added to the local population of people experiencing homelessness for the first time, Lewis said.

Lewis said ECHO added new case management and outreach resources over the course of the pandemic to connect homeless individuals to support.

Lewis said most homeless people are unable to transition to housing in SLO County, as the growing vacation rental industry has swept up many of the smaller, more affordable units that were once available in the area.

"That housing stock has been taken out of inventory, because of that ability to have a better profit stream coming in" from short-term rentals, Lewis said.

Lewis said ECHO teamed up with the Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo (HASLO) and People's Self-Help Housing to add 50 shelter beds and 60 units of supportive housing units during the peak of the pandemic.

ECHO expanded by adding ECHO Paso Robles, a new housing complex, earlier this year, Lewis said.

"(Expanding the capacity) was kind of a leap of faith, because it only came with two years of operating funding," Lewis said. "Now as an organization, we have to work with the county, with our local jurisdictions (and) with the state and with the federal government to find funding to keep that going for years to come."

In addition, ECHO's staff grew from six employees to 20 in response to the pandemic, Lewis said.

"The ECHO staff grew in response to funding opportunities and the opportunity to expand (and) open ECHO Paso Robles," Lewis told The Tribune via email. "During the past two years we have also expanded and increased our case management program, which includes outreach case managers who go throughout North County and bring resources to the unhoused population who might not be coming to our shelters for services."

SLO shelter emerges from COVID-19 with health, housing focus

At 40 Prado Homeless Services Center, the largest congregate homeless shelter in SLO County, COVID-19 and its effects are still front and center in the care process, according to Jack Lahey, director of homeless services.

Face masks are still required through the building, temperature screens are required for newly-admitted clients and tables are spaced apart to prevent close contact.

Plexiglass barriers remain between beds in sleeping areas to keep particulate transmission down, and there are air purification machines in each living space, Lahey said.

In the hallway leading to the family wing of the shelter — located near the nurse's office — paint has been chipped away where makeshift quarantine areas have been taped up and torn down three times over.

40 Prado was fortunate to already have an embedded medical clinic when the pandemic began, Lahey said, as the importance of health in homelessness increased.

Due to the pandemic, 40 Prado adopted housing and health as more significant points of focus in its client management, Lahey said, as a more holistic approach emerged.

"The health care system should be involved with helping people maintain housing, because people who are experiencing homelessness and people who are like unstable housed have worse health outcomes," Lahey said.

Lahey said more resources are now going to rapid re-housing and housing stabilization efforts than before the pandemic.

"The rental assistance worked, and keeping people in their units works," Lahey said. "Keeping that landlord relationship (strong) and keeping people housed, that works."

Finding people homes and keeping them in those homes reduces the daily strain on shelter services, which makes prolonged support worth the time and money, Lahey said.

SLO County services providers see surge in new clients

Non-shelter programs in SLO County saw a rise in requests for service during and after the worst parts of the pandemic.

Melissa Reed, a program coordinator for TMHA's Housing and Disability Advocacy Program, said her program has seen a "big uptick" in phone calls in the past year.

She noted that most of the country's support programs — such as Social Security — saw significant delays during the pandemic.

"What the end of the pandemic has really helped (me with) is being able to move people through the various systems," Reed said.

One reason calls for aid have increased may be the end of the unemployment benefits and eviction moratoriums.

Eviction moratoriums, stimulus checks and other aid kept people housed during the height of the pandemic, Lahey explained, making them more willing to interact with homeless service providers. That in turn "lowered barriers" for service engagement, he said.

With COVID-19 aid effectively expiring without a replacement, Lahey said homeless services providers are now "bursting at the seams" with new clients.

Before the pandemic, Lahey said, 105 out of 129 beds at the shelter were filled each month on average. Now, 118 of those beds are filled each night of the month on average.

"The wave is hitting us now," Lahey said.

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