Stanislaus count shows no large increase in homeless population. What about Turlock?
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- Sheltered individuals outnumbered the unsheltered for a third consecutive year.
- Over 70% of respondents became homeless locally and have remained unhoused for years.
- Outreach programs credited for trend, but permanent housing remains insufficient.
The annual point-in-time survey counted 2,086 homeless people in Stanislaus County, a small increase over the 2,052 identified the previous year.
The count was conducted Jan. 29-30 and included people in emergency shelters, temporary housing programs and those without shelter.
Officials with the Stanislaus Community System of Care, which organizes the count, were encouraged by the 2025 results, which again showed an increase in people using shelters. “This is the third year that the PIT count has shown an increase in sheltered people and that we have more sheltered than unsheltered,” Maryn Pitt, Community System of Care chairwoman, said in a news release.
“It speaks to the effective efforts of our outreach and engagement programs,” Pitt said. “It’s the third (consecutive) count where we’ve seen this statistic, so I consider that a trend.”
The local census identified 1,136 sheltered homeless individuals in the county and 950 without shelter. Modesto had 1,603 people experiencing homelessness, down from 1,622 in the 2024 count. Turlock had 241 homeless, or 40 more than the previous year.
Turlock drew statewide attention in April when the City Council, in a 3-2 vote, denied a support letter and $1 necessary for the We Care shelter to receive $267,000 in funding through the county.
In the January count, people considered “sheltered” were in congregate shelters, transitional housing and motel voucher programs. The canvas found 46% of the population were unsheltered, including people living on the streets, in parks, cars or abandoned buildings.
The Community System of Care and other agencies use the data to develop efforts to reduce homelessness in the county. “It’s vital to understand who makes up our homeless populations and their challenges to accessing services and ultimately getting housed,” Pitt said.
The survey gathered information about why people were homeless, struggles with mental illness or substance use disorder and barriers to accessing services that could help them.
The annual point-in-time counts establish that most of the homeless are from the Stanislaus County area and became homeless while living here. According to the 2025 count, more than 70% said their experience with homelessness began in this region and almost the same percentage reported they’ve been homeless more than three years.
Pitt said about 250 volunteers helped with the count. The Community System of Care works with street outreach teams and law enforcement to locate unsheltered people. Police are asked to refrain from disturbing encampments in the time before the count.
Pitt said the numbers for Modesto and the county show the homeless population didn’t grow significantly in the past year.
“Our focus needs to be what we can do around getting folks out of the shelters and getting them into permanent housing,” she said. “We know people are staying in the shelters too long. Part of that is we don’t have housing to put them in.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM.
