An estimated 423 people are living along the San Diego Riverbed, according to data released Thursday, marking an increase over the last count in the spring.
That figure comes from the San Diego River Park Foundation’s homelessness census, conducted by volunteers over four days in late September.
The data shows an estimated 338 people are in the city of San Diego, another 78 are in Santee and seven are in unincorporated parts of the county.
County officials said 180 people have been moved from the San Diego Riverbed and the Sweetwater Riverbed since January: 157 in emergency housing, 22 into permanent housing and one reunified with family.
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“These are people. These are members of our community,” San Diego River Park Foundation CEO Rob Hutsel said at a news conference announcing the latest data. “We need to help them and provide what they need, where they are to help them out of the riverbed and toward a life that’s better.”
Outreach workers said the average amount of time someone living at the riverbed has been homeless is over a decade.
“Many unsheltered people seek refuge in the San Diego River because it provides them isolation, but it also provides them with a sense of autonomy and protection that they're not going to find elsewhere,” said Kendall Burdett, outreach case manager with People Assisting the Homeless, also known as PATH.
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Burdett said what drives people to the riverbed is what led them to become homeless in the first place: income instability and rising rent costs, as well as mental and physical health conditions.
Officials attributed the 180 people moved into housing to increased efforts to clear the riverbeds, funded by a $17 million Encampment Resolution Funding grant from the state, awarded to the city, the county and other agencies in June 2023.
“Living unsheltered is obviously not easy, and it's never considered safe,” Burdett said. “This is why we feel it's so important that we meet unhoused San Diegans where they're at and to continue to build or rebuild trusting relationships.”
For the past few months, Angel Rivera and her dog Gypsy have been among the hundreds staying along the river, at the encampment nestled in the underpass where I-5 and I-8 intersect. It’s known as “the island.”
“It’s rough. It’s kind of a dog eat dog world, but you make it, I guess,” Rivera said.
Originally from Spring Valley, she said she became homeless over four years ago when she could no longer live at her mother’s house. On Thursday, she said she lost most of her belongings two days prior when San Diego police swept the area.
“It sucks to lose everything, again and again,” Rivera said.
“You’re just chasing, every day is just getting every day's needs taken care,” she continued. “All you have time for is just every day, one day at a time.”
Rivera said she never imagined she would be homeless — and she wishes every day that it was different.
“Don’t ever get here, I guess, to this point,” she said, when asked what she wanted people to know about her story. “Because it’s hard to make it back out.”
