Current Events & Information

VICTORVILLE, Calif. —The number of unsheltered individuals in Victorville dropped by 57 percent in one year according to San Bernardino County’s 2025 Point in Time Count released last month. Of the eight cities with the highest concentration of homeless individuals in the County, Victorville experienced the greatest decrease (326 to 141) in its unsheltered population, defined as individuals living in places not meant for human habitation such as on the street or in vehicles. Additionally, Victorville’s overall homeless count, which includes unsheltered individuals and those living in shelters and interim housing, dropped by 27 percent since 2024 (611 to 448). Now, Victorville’s homeless count is the lowest it’s been in five years.

“We are emboldened to see that our homelessness solutions strategy is working,” said Victorville Mayor Liz Becerra. “By increasing access to shelter, medical care, and much-needed wraparound support services, we are helping the most vulnerable in our community find their route to wellness and stabilize their lives. We are committed to further reducing homelessness in Victorville for the benefit of our community.”

At the heart of Victorville’s strategy is its Wellness Center, a low-barrier, non-congregate emergency shelter that offers interim housing, wraparound support services, recuperative care, and a medical clinic on-site. With expenses reimbursed through Medi-Cal, the medical clinic and recuperative care are self-sustaining services.

Since its grand opening in December 2023, over 660 individuals from Victorville streets were admitted to the Wellness Center where they received or are receiving supportive services tailored to their unique needs. This individualized approach has been successful with 156 clients having graduated into permanent housing.

The City of Victorville constructed its Wellness Center on City-owned land with most of the funding coming from a $28 million Homekey grant from the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

Additionally, the City used revenue from Measure P, the one-cent sales tax approved by Victorville voters in 2022, to fund a Homeless Engagement Team that canvases the Victorville community, engages with the City's unhoused, and connects them with helpful resources like the Wellness Center.

Nearly 50 percent of the clients served at the Wellness Center are chronically homeless meaning they have experienced homelessness for at least a year or repeatedly over a longer period while struggling with a disabling condition like a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability. More than 30 percent of Wellness Center clients are over the age of 55.

This year, 53 volunteers participated in the City of Victorville’s point in time count, demonstrating a shared commitment to identifying solutions to homelessness throughout the city.

Located in Southern California at the high-point between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Victorville is the leading city for both industry and retail in the High Desert region. Victorville is a growing, vibrant community that is home to more than 135,000 residents and some of the area’s largest employers. Clean air, abundant mountain vistas, family-friendly recreational activities, spectacular sunsets and breathtaking night skies entice locals and visitors alike to fall in love with this city that is within a few hours of SoCal beaches, National Parks, mountain retreats, and other major attractions. Ontario International Airport is less than an hour away.

The Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act was created to help Californians living with severe mental illness (such as schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders) access treatment, housing, and recovery services through a new civil court process. CARE is designed to be an upstream intervention, preventing unnecessary hospitalizations, incarcerations, and conservatorships.

Statewide Findings (First 9 Months of Implementation)

556 petitions were filed in the first nine months of CARE implementation (Oct. 2023 – June 2024).

Of these, 101 individuals entered CARE agreements or court-ordered CARE plans, connecting them with stabilizing medication, mental health treatment, and housing supports.

Nearly two-thirds of CARE participants (63%) received all three foundations for recovery: medication, psychosocial treatment, and housing support.

Early results show CARE participants experienced increased access to housing, rising from 46% housed at petitioning to 56% during active service.

Victorville’s Local Role

As part of San Bernardino County’s Cohort II rollout in December 2024, the Victorville Homelessness Solutions Team has begun filing petitions to connect residents with the care they urgently need. These petitions aim to stabilize individuals experiencing serious mental illness while reducing the burden on emergency rooms, jails, and unsheltered settings.

City staff emphasized that Victorville’s petitions reflect a proactive effort to use every available tool (including CARE Court) to ensure residents in crisis can access treatment, supportive housing, and long-term recovery pathways.

Looking Ahead

While still in its early stages, CARE Court is showing promise in creating person-centered care plans and strengthening partnerships between courts, behavioral health agencies, and local governments. Victorville’s participation aligns with the City’s broader Homelessness Solutions Strategic Action Plan, reinforcing its commitment to compassionate, medically informed care.

The recently released San Bernardino County2025 Affordable Housing Needs Reporthighlights the ongoing housing challenges faced by local residents:

60,659 low-income renter households in San Bernardino County do not have access to an affordable home

81% of extremely low-income (ELI) households are paying more than half of their income on housing costs, compared to just 5% of moderate-income households

In 2024, the County reported only 2,545 beds available in the interim housing supply for persons experiencing homelessness

Renters must earn $38.58 per hour—about 2.3 times the state minimum wage—to afford the average monthly asking rent of $2,006

These findings underscore the urgent need for additional housing resources and reinforce the importance of projects like the Victorville Wellness Center and the City’s broader Homelessness Solutions Strategic Action Plan, which aim to expand affordable housing opportunities and supportive services for residents most in need.

The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University reports that the nation is facing an unprecedented housing affordability crisis.

Home prices have surged 60% since 2019, with the median single-family home now at $412,500—five times the median household income.

Mortgage payments reached record highs in 2024, requiring an annual income of over $126,000 to afford the median-priced home, pricing out millions of would-be buyers.

Homeownership rates declined for the first time in eight years, falling to 65.1% in early 2025, with the steepest drops among younger households.

Rental housing demand remains strong. Although 608,000 new apartments were completed in 2024—the most in nearly 40 years—rents are still up 32% since 2019, and half of U.S. renters are now cost-burdened.

Homelessness reached record levels in January 2024, with 771,480 people unhoused, a 33% increase since 2020.

Rising insurance premiums, property taxes, and climate-related disasters are adding pressure on homeowners, landlords, and local governments.

The report underscores the urgency of expanding affordable housing, reforming zoning, and investing in sustainable housing solutions. Without bold action, affordability challenges will continue to worsen, threatening both household stability and the broader U.S. economy.

For more information, the full report is availablehere.

The San Bernardino County 2025 Point-In-Time Count (PITC) recorded 3,837 individuals experiencing homelessness, a 9.8% decrease from 2024. Of these, 2,636 people (68.7%) were unsheltered and 1,201 people (31.4%) were sheltered

Victorville’s Role in the Regional Picture

Victorville reported 448 people experiencing homelessness in 2025, down from 611 in 2024 (a 27% decrease)

This total includes 263 sheltered residents (many at the Victorville Wellness Center) and 185 fewer unsheltered residents than the year before.

Victorville accounted for 12% of the countywide total, the second highest city count after San Bernardino (1,535).

Comparisons with Other Cities

San Bernardino: 1,535 individuals (40% of county total)
Fontana: 364 individuals
Ontario: 297 individuals
Victorville: 448 individuals
Barstow: 96 individuals
Hesperia: 70 individuals

Key Trends

More than 83% of the county’s homeless population is concentrated in eight cities: Barstow, Colton, Fontana, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, San Bernardino, and Victorville

35.9% of unsheltered adults countywide reported becoming homeless for the first time in the past year.

Nearly two-thirds (62.5%) reported no income, and 44% were chronically homeless—living unhoused for a year or more with a disabling condition

Victorville’s Response

The Victorville Wellness Center continues to play a critical role in stabilizing lives and reducing street homelessness. With 170 beds and wraparound services, the Center is directly tied to the decline in unsheltered counts in Victorville, helping the City reduce its numbers while providing medically informed care, workforce pathways, and permanent housing connections.

The City of Victorville is proud to announce that the Victorville Wellness Center has been honored with the 2025 Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Sustainability Award for Housing Innovation.

HOUSING INNOVATION

The Victorville Wellness Center seamlessly integrates on-site medical care, private housing, and wraparound services for people experiencing homelessness. By combining shelter with essential support such as mental health care, workforce development, and long-term housing pathways, the Wellness Center has become a model of transformative care.

In May 2025, the award was presented by SCAG representative, who commended the Victorville City Council for its leadership and collaboration in addressing homelessness. This recognition underscores how the Wellness Center is redefining housing innovation in the High Desert, offering a beacon of hope and progress for the community.

On April 1, 2025, the Victorville City Council approved an agreement with San Bernardino County to accept $489,820 in grant funding through the State’s Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program (HHIP).

This funding will support operations at the Victorville Wellness Center, the City’s 170-bed interim housing campus that provides shelter, transitional housing, and supportive services for individuals experiencing homelessness. The grant reduces reliance on the City’s General Fund and Measure P resources, helping sustain critical programs while promoting fiscal responsibility.

HHIP is a statewide initiative under California’s Medi-Cal Home and Community-Based Services Spending Plan, designed to improve health outcomes by addressing housing instability. In San Bernardino County, Molina Healthcare partnered with the County’s Department of Community Development and Housing to bring these funds to local communities.

The Wellness Center is a cornerstone of the City’s Homelessness Solutions Task Force Strategic Action Plan and directly supports the City’s 2023-2026 Strategic Plan goal of reducing homelessness through partnerships and expanded funding.

City officials emphasized that this grant will help Victorville continue providing medically informed care, transitional housing, and wraparound support services to residents most in need, while ensuring accountability through service outcome tracking for Medi-Cal members.

The City of Victorville announced it has been awarded $6.3 million in Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) from the California Department of Housing and Community Development to resolve encampments and provide housing and supportive services to help unsheltered individuals gain stability. More specifically, the City will use the grant monies for enhanced street outreach, Wellness Center operations, interim housing solutions, and rapid re-housing.

“Homelessness is the issue of most concern to our Victorville community, and we are grateful to the state of California for this grant that will enable us to provide shelter solutions for the unhoused in our community while reducing the negative impacts encampments can have on our residents and businesses,” said Victorville Mayor Liz Becerra.

Since December 2021, the City of Victorville has been awarded more than $40 million for its homelessness solutions programs including a Homekey Grant from the State of California that primarily funded the construction of the Victorville Wellness Center. A low-barrier, non-congregate emergency shelter, the Wellness Center offers interim housing and wraparound support services to break the cycle of homelessness. The Center’s most unique feature is the inclusion of a recuperative care and medical clinic onsite.