Homeless Count Grows 40 Percent In Alameda County In 2 Years

ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA — A recent count recorded 5,629 homeless people in Alameda County, which represents an increase of nearly 40 percent over the last count two years ago, the head of a homeless organization said Thursday.

"This problem is growing and we have a new baseline but it doesn't have to become our new normal," Elaine de Coligny, the executive director of EveryOne Home, said at a news conference in front of the Alameda County administration building in Oakland.

De Coligny called for developers to commit to allocating more than 20 percent of new housing units for people whose income is less than 20 percent of the local median income, for voters to pressure California lawmakers to spend more money on producing and preserving affordable housing, and for property owners and landlords to commit to renting to homeless people.

Joining de Coligny at the news conference, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said, "These numbers confirm what we already knew, which is that homelessness has grown exponentially."

Schaaf also said she and other community leaders in Alameda County will host a summit this summer that will develop a coordinated plan to try to solve the homelessness problem.

— Bay City News; Image via Morguefile