At a special San Bernardino City Council meeting on Jan. 15, Deputy Director of Housing & Homelessness Cassandra Searcy walked councilmembers through what she called the city’s “current homeless landscape,” then outlined next steps for the 200-bed SB HOPE Campus Navigation Center and a slate of city-funded initiatives intended to move people from street outreach to interim shelter and, ultimately, housing.
“Not to sound redundant, but our city does continue to have the highest concentration of homeless people in the county,” Searcy said. “We have nearly 40% of the county’s homeless that reside in our streets.”
Searcy cited the 2025 point-in-time count showing 1,535 unhoused people in San Bernardino, up from 1,417 in 2024 — an 8% increase — but warned the tally does not reflect what staff and residents see daily. “You can drive around the street and see that that number is not accurate,” she said. “Experts will tell you you should probably take your point in time count number and double, if not triple it if you want a more accurate reflection.”…