SAN LEANDRO, CA — The number of people living on San Leandro streets has dropped over the last year, with city officials attributing the decline to investment in local programs.
San Leandro saw a 8.3% decline in unhoused homelessness over the past two years, with 19 fewer people sleeping outside than in 2024, according to city officials.
The decline follows a similar trend across Alameda County, which also saw the number of unhoused people in the region decline by 13%.
Oakland showed a reduction of almost 20% in its numbers, from 5,485 in 2024 to 4,410 in 2026. But the city still has more than half of the county's homeless population, despite representing only 22% of the county's total population.
Hayward, Union City, Albany, and Alameda also showed a marked decrease in the number of homeless individuals, while the figures rose in Berkeley, Dublin, Fremont, Livermore, and Pleasanton.
The numbers come from the annual 2026 Point-in-Time Count, in which volunteers help officials get a census of the people experiencing homelessness. The count is mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and takes place every two years and is led by Alameda County, with assistance from individual cities.
In San Leandro, the number of homeless people living in shelters grew, an increase, city officials say, that is evident in the investment in local response, including shelter services.
Some of those key services, according to city officials, include the Lewelling Interim Housing and Drop-In Center, which opened March 31, 2025.
The Lewelling Interim Housing and Drop-In Center serves not only as interim housing, but also provides intensive case management, food, laundry, showers and connection services, officials said.
More than 30 people have been connected to the program since it since its inception, city officials said.
There is also the City's Alternative Response Unit, which helps with people experiencing mental health crises, the Homelessness Prevention Rental Assistance Program, which provides short-term financial assistance to people at imminent risk of losing their housing and by protecting affordable housing, officials said.
"Addressing homelessness requires investment at every stage; preventing it before it starts, protecting those experiencing it today, and preserving stability for those on the path to housing," Mayor Juan González III, City of San Leandro, said in a statement on Wednesday. "San Leandro is doing all three, and today's numbers show that work is making a difference."
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