Monterey County Homelessness Articles

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.

More than 70,000 households who needed and applied for state aid to pay their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic by the March 2022 deadline still have their applications listed as "pending." Now they could be evicted from their homes.

The number of Californians facing eviction was relatively low for years during a lengthy statewide moratorium. In the year after it ended, cases soared and still remain high in large counties.

Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County CEO Erica Padilla-Chavez looks at food insecurity as a symptom of an underlying disorder—one that can be cured.

A hotel in Hollywood is receiving more than twice it would get per room by renting to the city of Los Angeles rather than to long-term tenants.

Just a week before the first guests step over the threshold, crews are busy putting the finishing touches on the Shuman HeartHouse, Monterey’s first shelter for women and families experiencing homelessness. The kitchen is being assembled on Monday, Oct. 30,…

This episode of Talk of the Bay included Megan Whilden, Development Director for Community Human Services who spoke about the overwhelming response the organization has had to the opening of 35 new shelter beds for women and their children. Monterey’s …

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature mental health policies allow the involuntary treatment of more Californians with severe mental illnesses. Some fear the new laws will infringe on the civil liberties of people confined against their will.

Police can’t force homeless people from encampments unless the city in question has “adequate shelter” for those who are displaced, according to courts. Now everyone involved wants to know what “adequate” means.

Schools are increasingly seen not just as places for learning, but hubs for needed resources.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s big new experiment to push people with mental illness off the streets and into treatment starts this fall. Counties responsible for the rollout say it may end up being more modest than advertised.

By channeling funds to a number of nonprofits working on various issues in a given region, community foundations help solve big problems throughout California.

Renter protections and eviction bans put in place for the COVID-19 pandemic have expired. By keeping them in place, California could slow the spread of homelessness. But that's not happening.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to rethink how California spends its millionaires tax by directing more money toward housing. Some county-run mental health programs could lose out.