Hayward showing progress in sheltering of people experiencing homelessness

According to Point in Time (PIT) Count estimates, which were arrived at based on a physical count carried out across the County on the morning of Jan. 25, Hayward is sheltering 44 percent of its homeless population—up from 30 percent in 2022, 24 percent in 2019 and 21 percent in 2017.

While overall numbers of people experiencing homelessness are beyond any one city’s direct control, how cities respond is not—and by that measure Hayward is making sustained progress moving people off the streets and out of encampments and into emergency and transitional shelter programs.

“We are concerned about and will get to the bottom of the overall increase in homelessness in Hayward as reflected in the 2024 PIT Count,” Mayor Mark Salinas said, referring to a PIT Count finding that the City’s homeless population increased by 114 individuals or 30 percent over the 2022 Count. “At the same time, Hayward can be very proud of how we are responding to this regional crisis.

As Vice President of the Alameda County Mayors Conference and a member of its Homelessness Task Force, Mayor Salinas added that cities are and will continue working together to coordinate resources and deploy services to help more people. 

Progress in the sheltering of people experiencing homelessness in Hayward began in 2019 with the City’s declaration of a homelessness emergency and the rapid opening of the Hayward housing Navigation Center that followed in November of that year. 

Since opening its doors on Nov. 18, 2019, the Navigation Center has moved 264, or 54 percent, of individuals served into permanent housing. And the Center is just the first of multiple responses that have been undertaken. 

In 2021, the City launched HEART, which is short for Hayward Evaluation and Response Teams, an intradepartmental initiative of the Hayward Fire and Police Departments and Office of the City Manager to involve mental health clinicians and coordinated case management in calls for service for people experiencing mental and behavioral health episodes. 

Also in 2021, First Presbyterian Church of Hayward and its South Hayward Parish location expanded services, originally offering 18 drop-in beds to unhoused individuals during instances of inclement weather in winter months to now offering 21 drop-in beds and operating year-round. 

In May 2023, Depot Community Apartments, a contemporary new residence of 125 micro units with wrap around services at 2595 Depot Road began accepting applications from individuals and two-person households who were either experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.

And last November, the State of California announced the award of $9.6 million for a new initiative of the City of Hayward and partners Union City and nonprofit Bay Area Community Services (BACS) to purchase and operate single-family homes for people experiencing homelessness.   

To learn more about how Hayward and its community partners are responding to homelessness, check out Let’s House Hayward! Strategic Plan to Reduce Homelessness here on the City of Hayward website.