FREMONT, Calif. — Homelessness has been growing in Fremont and the city recently hired a consultant to draft a plan to respond to the crisis.
At a recent informational webinar, consultant Elaine de Coligny said she has begun preparing a draft of a homelessness response plan that is set to be presented to the City Council in May. It is expected to offer a range of short- and long-term solutions that align with the county’s homelessness response plan, Home Together 2026, and that the council can consider independently of each other.
“When you see the ratio of the number of people becoming homeless each year in your city is exceeding the number of people exiting,” de Coligny said, “one of the ways to address that and stop the growth of homelessness is to help the hundreds of people that become homeless each year to avoid becoming homeless.”
She emphasized keeping people housed is important because less than 10% of people who become homeless are able to get back into permanent, stable housing.
The city already has infrastructure and programs, such as Keep Fremont Housed, that can be bolstered to do just that. However, a lot of federal funding that was available to address homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic will no longer be available. That’s why de Coligny said it is important for the city to deeply target those resources toward the people most at risk of becoming homeless, such as seniors and people with disabilities, as well as neighborhoods with higher levels of overcrowding and renters without standard leases.
Increasing the supply of affordable housing is also essential, de Coligny said, and the city can offer incentives to landlords who are willing to offer housing to tenants who may not have the best rental histories.
Clearing encampments can only be a temporary solution if the people who live in them have nowhere else to go, de Coligny said, adding that they generally pop back up within days. That’s why permanent, data-driven solutions are central to the plan being developed.
The number of people struggling with homelessness in the city grew by 68.75% from 2019 (608 people) to 2022 (1,026 people). About two-thirds of those counted in Fremont were living in their cars, vans or recreational vehicles, and seniors are one of the fastest growing homeless populations.
Sonia Waraich can be reached at 510-952-7455.
