No Hope For Homelessness?

Over the last several years it seems that there has been more and more attention paid in our major cities to the homeless problem.

There were an estimated 770,000 homeless people in the United States in 2024.

The number of homeless people rose significantly since the 2021-2022 period.

Source: https://www.consumershield.com/

Is it just a coincidence that the number of homeless increased at the same time that Joe Biden and the Democrats opened the borders and allowed millions of immigrants to enter the country?

Take a look at how net international migration into the United States surged in the Biden years.

Source: https://cis.org/Report/ForeignBorn-Number-and-Share-US-Population-AllTime-Highs-January-2025

A principal factor in homelessness is related to housing affordability.

The massive increase in housing costs and apartment rents that followed the mass influx of millions of people in such a short period of time undoubtedly fueled the homelessness situation.

It is also not a coincidence that California and New York are the two states that have the largest homelessness problem.

Source: Source: https://www.consumershield.com/

Both California and New York have adopted statewide sanctuary policies for illegal immigrants as well as having some of the highest housing costs in the nation.

What is most shocking is the amount of money that is being spent on homelessness by some major sanctuary cities.

San Francisco is spending $102,000 annually on each homeless person in the city.

Portland $95,000.

New York City $82,000.

Los Angeles $62,000.

For context, the average American makes $67,000 per year.

However, that person has to pay for their housing and also the taxes that are supporting these homeless programs.

How is it that cities like New York City, San Francisco and Portland are paying much more for their typical homeless person than their average tax paying workers are earning each year?

It makes absolutely no sense.

Just as shocking is the increase in per capita spending on homelessness since 2019.

How is it possible to spend this much money and the problem has gotten worse?

Consider what has gone on in New York City.

Total spending has increased from $102 million in 2019 to $368 million in 2025.

Per capita spending increased from $28,000 to $82,000.

However, the unsheltered homeless population in the city increased by 26%,

 

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to spend more in 2026 to "solve" the problem. 

City Hall is projecting that nearly $97,000 per homeless person will be spent this year.

What is going on?

The New York Post had the same question and recently published an editorial on the subject.

It’s certain that almost none of the $81,000 actually benefits these street people: Outreach workers get paid to count the “unsheltered” and to try coaxing them into shelter or arranging some kind of housing they’ll accept. 

This is just one particularly damning example of how New York’s nonprofit-industrial complex has morphed the city’s multibillion-dollar outlays in the name of fighting homelessness into a jobs program that simply pretends to manage it.

It sounds almost identical to what Elon Musk's DOGE team found regarding a lot of federal spending on programs with sympathetic objectives.

Most of the money is spent enriching the people managing the programs.

Very little actually gets to those who need it.

You get a sense of that by seeing how much the executives of some of the nonprofits who are "managing" the homeless programs in New York City are making.

Of course, what incentive is there to actually solve the problem and get people off the streets if the flow of money stops?

California Governor Newsom built his political career on the promise he was going to end chronic homelessness.

When he was Mayor-elect of San Francisco in 2003 he announced a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness. He stated that it was his No.1 priority as Mayor.

Source: https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Newsom-details-plan-for-homeless-Mayor-elect-2509363.php

Little was different seven years later when Newsom left San Francisco's mayor's office to become Lt. Governor of California.

When Newsom became Governor he similarly pledged to solve chronic homelessness at the state level.

Newsom allocated $24 billion in local and non-profit (sound familiar?) grants to address the problem right after he took office.

All of that money hasn't done anything.

In fact, the homeless problem in California is worse than ever.

 

Source: https://www.independent.org/article/2025/05/27/newsom-legacy-homelessness/

Governor Newsom also believes he has all the answers to run for President in 2028.

In fact, recent polls in California show that Newsom is far ahead of the Democrat field for the nomination in that state.

Source: https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/democratic-primary/2028/california

It seems that Democrat voters do not care much about a candidate's record and results as long as say they tell you they are going to do something about a problem.

Just as baffling is to see Democrats like Newsom and Mamdani fail to make the connection between open borders, sanctuary states and cities and the problem of homelessness.  They also continue to throw millions to enrich their friends and allies at nonprofits with no accountability for results.

In the meantime, the homelessness problem persists despite the fact that it is staining their cities and destroying their budgets .

I can only conclude that there is no hope for homelessness until there is a change in the mindset of Democrats about the causes of the problem and reforming the incentive structure that perpetuates it with the "nonprofits" who profit from the homeless.