Today’s newsletter is presented by addressSD.com.
Hello, La Mesa!
The Point-in-Time Count had promising news for La Mesa: unsheltered homelessness dropped by 25%.The number of people experiencing sheltered homelessness went up over 300%, with a majority of these people accessing emergency shelters.
Remember this is the annual effort with over a thousand volunteers counting every homeless person in the region, whether on the streets, a campsite, a car or shelter, in a single morning to get an accurate view of this transient population.
Alone, this quarter drop is something to celebrate, as homelessness continues to be so difficult to solve in our unaffordable region. La Mesa was part of a trend in suburbs like Encinitas, El Cajon and Escondido that saw major drops in unsheltered homelessness.
I don’t want to diminish this accomplishment, although I’d temper the good news. In the region as a whole, the number of homeless individuals dropped by only 1% – essentially staying flat. That’s better than years and years of rising, but last year the drop was a more significant 7%.
Other than suburban homelessness dropping, the other positive the PIT count found was veteran homelessness is close to a “functional zero,” where the number of veterans newly experiencing homelessness matches the number gaining housing.
Of all homeless populations, veterans have the most targeted, well-funded resources. So those programs clearly work — and could be applied elsewhere!
But there is one “flashing red light” experts are looking at: Homelessness among seniors over age 55 is rising.
Our intern Thomas Murphy has a deeper look. It’s his last week in the program and we will miss him and our other intern, Mireya Miner, too!
Drew Sitton
La Mesa Courier newsletter host
La Mesa story spotlight
Annual homeless count shows progress in suburbs and for vets. But for seniors, results are a ‘flashing red light’
By Thomas Murphy • Times of San Diego
Overall, homelessness stayed almost level in 2026, with the total only falling by 1% after a 7% drop in 2025.
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