Homeless Count Rises In Banning, Drops Across Nearby Cities

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The number of homeless people living on the streets and in vacant lots in Banning has risen while figures have dropped in other nearby cities, according to the "Riverside County Point in Time Count" results released Tuesday.

While the numbers provide only a snapshot in time, the results showed 155 unsheltered people were encountered by Point in Time volunteers during the February 23-25 counts in the cities of Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa and Moreno Valley.

The county's 2021 Point in Time Count was canceled due to coronavirus. Instead, a sheltered count was conducted where data was gathered based on shelter bed occupation.

In 2020, however, a complete count was conducted. It found 225 people living without shelter across the four cities.

The Point in Time Count is federally mandated and is used to demonstrate the need for federal and state funding, services and resource planning.

Of the four cities, Moreno Valley experienced the most significant drop in unsheltered people, according to the 2022 count. The city's figure decreased by 88 people, or 53 percent, compared to the 2020 figures when 165 people were encountered. The number of unsheltered people counted in Moreno Valley totaled 77 in 2022, while 10 additional homeless people were reportedly living in shelters, according to the report.

In Calimesa, eight unsheltered people were encountered in 2022, compared to 17 in 2020, a decrease of 53 percent. The 2022 figures show no homeless people counted in the city were living in shelters.

In Beaumont, 16 unsheltered people were encountered in 2022, the same as 2020. An additional three homeless people in Beaumont were living in shelters, according to the 2022 count.

Banning was an outlier. Fifty-four unsheltered people were encountered in the city during 2022, compared to 43 in 2020, an increase of 26 percent. The 2022 count shows an additional 11 homeless people were living in shelters.

It's unclear how many people living on the streets in 2020 remained, were in shelters, left the area, or found housing.

Countywide counts for 2022 were similar to those found in the Pass Area. For the first time in six years, the countywide results revealed an 8 percent decrease in the number of people living without shelter.

The decrease in unsheltered populations was "the result of steep housing investments made with $196 million in COVID-19 relief funding that helped 26,665 households remain housed during the pandemic," according to the county.

When taking into consideration people living in shelters, the countywide numbers were higher in 2022. This year's count identified a total of 3,316 sheltered and unsheltered homeless people throughout the county, which is 15 percent higher than the count in 2020 that found 2,884 people on the streets and in shelters.

Compared to 2020, the sheltered count increased 83 percent from 729 to 1,336 countywide. The sheltered count consists of information from a countywide homeless management system, as well as data from agencies that operate emergency domestic violence shelters, according to the county.

During the 2022 count, more than 625 volunteers fanned out across the county to interview unsheltered individuals and families. In addition to the interviews, volunteers offered residents experiencing homelessness services like housing, animal services, medical services and help obtaining documents. As a result, 49 percent of those interviewed during the general count signed up to receive follow-up services, the county reported.

“It was very important to not just interview persons experiencing homelessness, but to also connect them to services,” said Heidi Marshall, director of the county's Housing and Workforce Solutions. “The results of the count serve as a tool for effective planning and performance management toward the goal of ending homelessness for our community.”

The complete Point in Time Count results can be found here: morethanacount.org.