While progress has been made in addressing homelessness in Orange County, community leaders and advocates say the lack of affordable housing is still a major problem.

The Orange County United Way hosted the fourth annual State of Homelessness Address on Wednesday, Jan. 29, a virtual speaker panel that reflected on where communities are at in addressing homelessness and where gaps in care continue to exist. Speakers included county supervisors Vicente Sarmiento and Katrina Foley, Orange County Continuum of Care board members Tim Shaw and Nichole Gideon and Doug Becht, director of the county’s Office of Care Coordination.

Sarmiento pointed to the county’s latest point-in-time count, a federally required tally of people experiencing homelessness. The survey in early 2024 reported a 28% increase in homelessness compared to the 2022 count. Sarmiento said the count also found that only one in 12 people living in a shelter had been transferred into permanent housing.

“We want to make sure we look at that honestly and realize that we need to do better,” said Sarmiento, who represents OC’s Second District on the Board of Supervisors. “That’s been a challenge of ours to make sure that we transition people safely and do permanent supportive housing. We know that it’s become extremely expensive in our county to be able to not only stand up permanent supportive housing, but also keep people housed in rental units that have become extremely expensive.”

The Continuum of Care board, in partnership with the county, distributed around $43 million last year in federal and state dollars to permanently house thousands of people living on the streets, Shaw said.

“All of our efforts will continue to be inadequate if we don’t solve our inability and unwillingness to simply produce housing,” he said. “Homelessness is a completely unnecessary condition. We know how to solve it. Housing ends homelessness.”

The challenge in Orange County, Shaw added, is that each of the 34 cities have zoning authority over what types of housing can be built.

“This hyper localization of housing approvals and planning prompts community opposition, which often diminishes the political will and courage of city councils to meet their housing obligations,” Shaw said, adding that rental costs in Orange County are some of the highest in the country.

“Fair market rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,200 a month. Someone would need to work a full-time job at $40 an hour to afford this with other necessities like food and transportation,” Shaw said. “Since 2000, rents in Orange County have increased 35%, and renter income has only increased 6%, so it’s unfair to ask people to try and manage that.”

Foley said one of her priorities is to find creative solutions for the housing crisis, including tapping Project Homekey, a state program that helps fund the conversion of hotels and other buildings into housing.