According to EveryOne Home, a community-based movement to end homelessness in Alameda County, a count of the unhoused population in Alameda County, both sheltered and unsheltered, homelessness in Berkeley has gone down by 5% since 2019. Their 2019 point-in-time count reported 1,108 homeless individuals and the 2022 point-in-time count, conducted in February of this year, reported 1057 homeless individuals. Learn about the nonprofit here: EveryOne Home. 

Measure P, which was implemented in 2018 and proudly supported by LWVBAE since then, has been instrumental in helping with homelessness in Berkeley. Measure P called for an increased property tax that would allow more funds to be allocated to homeless shelters and various programs such as Project Homekey, the Coordinated Entry System, Homeless Response Team, and more. Measure P has raised over $40 million dollars to fund these programs since the 2019 fiscal year.

“In order to actually get the measure passed, many members of the League participated in canvassing and phone banking and held forums with Mayor Arreguín,” LWVBAE Board Member Adena Ishii said.

Charlotte Wheeler, an active LWVBAE volunteer, said the League believes everyone deserves a safe place to live.

 “I’m proud of the support and effort we gave to Measure P, and gratified to know that [the measure] may have contributed to the 5% drop in Berkeley’s homeless population,” Wheeler said.

In addition to Measure P, the city of Berkeley has implemented anti-displacement and eviction defense programs in order to mitigate homelessness. There is also a housing retention program that provides grants to people who are at risk of losing housing. These systems have positively affected both the amount of people entering homelessness and also the existing population of homeless people. Berkeley is hoping to expand this success to a countywide level. 

To read Mayor Arreguín’s full newsletter, click here.

–Tillie Marguiles