Manteca has almost reduced in half the number of unsheltered homeless.
The unofficial tally of the latest biennial (every two years) point in time count conducted on Jan. 27 placed the number of unsheltered homeless at 121.
That is almost half the 2024 number of 235 unsheltered individuals in Manteca.
Councilman Dave Breitenbucher, who is among the volunteers working to get the homeless off the streets, lauded the new numbers.
Breitenbucher noted Manteca is leading the way in San Joaquin County in reducing the homeless issues.
“The proof is in the pudding,” Breitenbucher said Tuesday.
Still, the city continues to draw criticism from some quarters for not completely solving the homeless problem.
“Are we ever get rid of all the homeless?” Breitenbucher asked rhetorically at Tuesday’s council meeting. “Anybody who tells you that is smoking something.”
The city is focused on managing the problem and doing what it can to work with homeless to get them off the streets.
“The numbers don’t lie,” Mayor Gary Singh said of how effective the city-community partnership is working to reduce the impact of homelessness on Manteca.
The current unsheltered homeless count will be used to determine initial number of beds that will be accommodated in the remodel of the 57,000 square-foot former Qualex building at 555 Industrial Park Drive for use as a permanent homeless navigation center.
The point in time count is mandated by the Housing & Urban Development in order for local jurisdictions to obtain federal funding for homeless services.
The Manteca count differed somewhat from the rest of San Joaquin County.
That’s because Manteca’s effort in dealing with the homeless allowed them to conduct a precise head count instead of employing mythology on a sampling basis.
In other words, Manteca officials believe they have close as you can get to a precise count as opposed to an estimate based on sampling.
Manteca Police — working with various community organizations — basically are aware of every place in the city where there are encampments.
That type of information is gleaned not just from the two police officers dedicated to homeless issues but also volunteers with non-profit groups and county services that conduct outreach efforts twice a month.
The outreach, besides encouraging the homeless to go to the city shelter for housing and services, also provides medical care and other needs.
That is in addition to the Manteca Police Department’s once a month quality of life enforcement effort where homeless wanted on warrants for illegal camping that failed to show up for court dates and arrested and booked in the county jail.
At the same time, unlike during the outreach efforts, the homeless that are illegally camping are forced to move on.
While these numbers are still unofficial, City of Manteca officials stress they “highlight the impact of a strong, coordinated, community-wide effort.”
The community-wide effort is made possible through collaboration between the City of Manteca, Manteca Police Department, and community partners including His Way Refuge Center, PREVAIL, San Joaquin County Behavioral Health Services, Community Medical Centers, LOVE, Inc., faith-based organizations, and many others.
Through expanded outreach, behavioral health services, clean-up efforts, case management, and continued collaboration, the city indicated they will “remain focused on long-term solutions and pathways to stability.”
Other recent point-in-time counts for Manteca included 129 in 2022, 218 in 2019, and 90 in 2015.
The time between counts went to three years during the pandemic.
This year’s count noted there were 50 homeless housed at Manteca’s shelter located at 555 Industrial Park Drive. The preliminary count of the “housed” homeless has yet to include those that were living at the three HOPE Family Shelters on Jan. 27.
The point-in-time count helps the city understand homelessness in the community by identifying individuals who are:
*Unsheltered living outdoors or in places not meant for habitation such as tents, cars, parks or on the streets.
*Sheltered staying in emergency shelters or transitional housing.
This year’s count day will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which will release the official count in the spring.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
