A Merced County city has been awarded nearly $12 million to help the homeless. Here’s what’s planned

By Victor Patton l April 19, 2024

The city of Los Banos has been granted $11.8 million from the state to transition people living in encampments into permanent housing.

Los Banos is one of 17 government agencies statewide to benefit from $192 million in state Encampment Resolution Fund grants, according to a news release from the California Interagency Council on Homelessness.

According to the release, Los Banos will use those funds to serve 95 people and provide housing to 95 people through development of 50 modular units of permanent housing on city property.

Gov. Gavin Newsom held a meeting virtually Thursday with leaders from across the state about the funding.

“This new funding will get people out of tents and into housing across California,” Newsom said in the release.

“As the state provides unprecedented resources like this, we also expect accountability. Local governments must ensure this funding – and all homeless funding – is getting people out of encampments.”

The funds come at a time when the number of people living on the street appears to be up in Los Banos.

According to the 2024 Homeless Count report compiled by the Merced City and County Continuum of Care, there were 121 unsheltered individuals counted in Los Banos on Jan. 25 this year. That’s an increase from 78 unsheltered individuals counted in 2023.

Merced County overall counted 830 homeless individuals in 2024, an increase of 5.9% over last year.

Despite the overall increase in unsheltered people countywide, there was some good news in the Homeless Count report. The city of Merced reported 197 unsheltered people in 2024, a 13.3% decrease.

The city of Fresno was the only other government agency in the San Joaquin Valley to benefit from this round of funding.

Fresno will receive $10.9 million to serve 600 people and house 200 people by expanding on previous rounds of funding for an encampment along a state right-of-way, including adding up to an additional 100 permanent housing beds, the release said.

Victor A. Patton is editor in chief of the Merced FOCUS, a nonprofit news organization covering Merced and the San Joaquin Valley.