Monterey County Homelessness Articles

How the California mental health crisis emerged out of the state’s history of deinstitutionalization and laws designed to protect the mentally ill, as well as the communities around them.

For the past four years, All-In Monterey County has helped distribute food, clothing and more to thousands of residents every month. Its volunteers were deployed throughout Pajaro following flooding in 2023, helping disaster-stricken residents clear out the mud from their…

The California housing crisis is not only weakening the state politically at the national level, it could shift the political balance in Washington, D.C., as Republican-led states add population while California’s exodus continues.

Construction will begin in June on a 34-unit community of small temporary dwellings based at Westview Presbyterian Church in Watsonville, after the Monterey County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved agreements to build and manage the facility.

SOLEDAD — The County of Monterey has been awarded two significant grants under California’s Encampment Resolution Funding program, allocating more than $11 million to address homelessness in King City and Soledad.

Two grants from the State of California's encampment resolution funding program to the County of Monterey will go toward helping two South Monterey County cities alleviate homeless encampments.

A new bill would make it illegal for homeless residents to camp in certain places, such as near schools, throughout California. Its authors say such a ban has had great success in San Diego. But a closer look at that …

A once-groundbreaking nonprofit working with chronically homeless people in California’s capital closed and filed for bankruptcy in 2023.

In San Mateo County, a new law allows police to charge homeless people with criminal offenses if they don’t accept shelter. SCOTUS will soon weigh in with a potential landmark decision in an Oregon case.

Ronald Britt, pastor of Seaside’s Greater Victory Temple, speaks to God often, and trusts that no matter what happens, it’s all part of God’s plan.

The State of California and five cities – including Salinas and King City – are working to save hundreds of Homekey apartments from foreclosure, due to a developer who the state says improperly took out third-party loans on seven properties.…

San Francisco provides all tenants facing eviction access to an attorney. Across the Bay, in Contra Costa County, it’s a different story. Two tenants’ stories show the difference a lawyer can make.

California lawmakers made an effort in 2023 to remove red tape around new affordable houses, but obstacles such as high interest rates, sluggish local approval processes and a shortage of skilled construction workers remain.

The state has hundreds of millions to spend on affordable housing. Developers say they need billions.

California is modernizing how it pays health care providers through Medi-Cal. Some mental health providers say the changes endanger their services.

Local officials counted on the state’s Homekey program to convert hotel rooms. But now a major developer has defaulted on loans and the state housing department is investigating.

California’s rent cap doesn’t apply to some kinds of low-income housing, which has its own rules. But with inflation, some tenants have gotten much higher rent increases, even though affordable units were built with taxpayer subsidies.

California's homelessness numbers continue to rise despite new spending on housing, services. Here's where the fight to end the crisis stands. This story has been updated for 2022 and 2023.

Poverty in California was reduced by record levels during the COVID pandemic, but now those economic support programs have come to an end and poverty is on the rise again.

Emergency calls generate a reaction from first responders wherever you are and whether or not you have a roof over your head. Every month, Salinas police and fire departments respond to about 1,200 calls to aid unhoused individuals.