There were 28% more families experiencing homelessness in Bexar County shelters this year compared to 2022, according to a survey conducted earlier this year.
That’s largely a result of the fading federal funding and the expiration of policies that kept families housed during the coronavirus pandemic, Katie Vela, executive director of the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless (SARAH), told the San Antonio Report this week.
The region’s 2023 Point-in-Time Count was released Wednesday, showing the jump in homeless families and quantifying the overall breakdown of people experiencing homelessness in San Antonio when the count was conducted on the night of Jan. 24. The count provides a one-night snapshot of people staying at shelters, in encampments and elsewhere.
“In 2021, we were at an all-time low for families experiencing actual homelessness where they’re in our emergency shelters, and that’s because we had homelessness prevention funding at unprecedented levels,” Vela said.
The eviction moratorium was lifted two years ago and “now, that funding has become much more sporadic,” pandemic-related benefits have halted and inflation has increased living expenses.
The report shows that 3,155 people were counted as being homelessness, in shelters or elsewhere, in Bexar County. That’s a 5% increase from the 2022 count, but the rate of homelessness remains relatively flat in the region due to the general population increase, Vela said.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires this annual survey in communities across the country that receive federal funds tied to homelessness mitigation. As the designated Continuum of Care agency for San Antonio and Bexar County, SARAH leads the count for San Antonio and Bexar County and works year-round with local governments and service agencies to coordinate homelessness mitigation strategy, funding and data collection.
The point-in-time count includes people who are sheltered — living in emergency shelters and transitional housing — or unsheltered, who live outdoors, in tents, cars or in other places not meant for human habitation. There are always limitations to the data collected by the point-in-time count. Some people go uncounted, especially people in the 19-24 age bracket, if they are living in an especially secluded encampment or are couch-surfing with friends or family.
While last year’s report saw a disturbing increase in chronically homeless individuals, meaning they have been homeless for a year and have a disabling condition, targeted efforts to assist that population appear to have made an impact since the last count.
Chronic homelessness decreased overall by 33% from 2022. The unsheltered chronically homeless population decreased by 55%.
“A lot of work has been done to engage people who are unsheltered with our street outreach response,” Vela said.
While the percentage of unhoused Black individuals decreased by 1.5% compared to last year, they are still overwhelmingly overrepresented, accounting for 21% of the overall homeless population. That’s three times what would be proportional to the population of San Antonio, which is about 7% Black, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
SARAH plans to organize equity training sessions to spread awareness of systemic racism within the homeless response system, Vela said.
“There are so many things connected to [this disparity] — it’s internet access, it’s resources, it’s generational wealth-building that didn’t happen because of redlining. … I think it’s important for the community to see that that’s the result of how different systems operate. Homelessness is the result of lots of other areas breaking down.”
The count does not reflect how many people in Bexar County are without housing throughout the year for days, weeks or months. The city has estimated that’s about 8,000 people in Bexar County, but “we’re still working on how we look at that number,” Vela said.
“[The count is a] regular touchpoint to see what’s happening … but it doesn’t represent the whole picture,” Vela said. “It’s most useful to look at overall demographic trends.”
SARAH has launched a data committee to gather a more accurate picture of the various subgroups within the broader, unhoused populations, ranging from people who are unhoused for the first time for a night or two to chronically homeless individuals.
Last year, SARAH added a “needs assessment” element to the survey, asking unsheltered individuals what they need the most. Housing emerged as the top need both years since adding that metric. This year, however, food and transportation were also high up; last year, it was indentification recovery and health care.
“Ultimately, you need housing that’s accessible and affordable to address homelessness,” Vela said. “Although mental health and substance use and these other factors can make someone more vulnerable to homelessness, ultimately, the housing is what’s in short supply.”
Last month, San Antonio City Council unanimously approved a historic investment of more than $31 million for three single-site permanent supportive housing projects. One of those projects, Towne Twin Village, welcomed its first residents.
San Antonio and Bexar County get additional federal funding for housing and homelessness by providing HUD five-year plans that outline how the money will be used to address issues identified in the count.
Last month, HUD selected San Antonio and Bexar County and 29 other communities to receive additional funding and housing subsidies aimed at reducing the unhoused population. SARAH will distribute the region’s more than $14.5 million to various service organizations. That award was in addition to the $17 million SARAH received as part of its annual funding allocation from HUD.
