The number of homeless people in the city of La Mesa fell by 9% year-over-year amid a general decline across San Diego County, the Regional Task Force on Homelessness announced Tuesday.
The task force reported results from the annual Point-in-Time Count in January, when 1,700 volunteers fanned out across the county to gather data.
“The progress is certainly encouraging,” said task force CEO Tamera Kohler. “The investments our region and cities have made are working, especially as they relate to veterans, family homelessness, and those needing a little financial assistance.
The volunteers found 61 homeless people in La Mesa, down from 67 last year. Of those, 9 were in shelters this year, versus 14 a year ago.
Overall, the count found 9,905 people experiencing homelessness throughout the county, 7% fewer than 10,605 a year ago.
Kohler said that while the latest numbers are encouraging, more needs to be done to end homelessness.
“I also want to stress the obvious: there’s more work to do,” she said. “Too many people, for example, are living in their cars, and while we are moving closer toward eliminating family and veteran homelessness, we need more apartment owners and landlords willing to house people with assistance.”
