San Bernardino is hoping to get an additional 60 unhoused residents into permanent shelter over the next two and a half years.

At its meeting Wednesday, the San Bernardino City Council authorized city staff to proceed with spending $1.39 million awarded to it by the state to help defray homelessness in the community.

The program seeks to help 60 city residents move from homeless encampments along Waterman Avenue into existing permanent housing, including 54 one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units. The $1.39 million program includes $600,000 for a subcontractor to handle residents’ cases and to work with landlords, along with $693,378 for rental assistance and $99,054 in incentives for landlords.

The program is paid for with part of the $4.5 million in state Encampment Resolution Funding awarded to the city in April 2024. The program will run through June 30, 2027.

San Bernardino is looking for a subcontractor to administer its Rapid Rehousing Program. Nonprofits need to apply by Feb. 26. The city is explicitly looking for a subcontractor with a track record in obtaining rental housing and providing case management services to individuals in the program.

“Our goal is to hopefully have this program in place by the end of April,” Cassandra Searcy, the city’s deputy director of housing and homelessness, told the council.

According to the 2024 San Bernardino County Point in Time Count of homeless residents, San Bernardino had 1,417 homeless residents in January that year, more than any other in San Bernardino County. That works out to about 633 of every 100,000 residents in the city of San Bernardino who don’t have a consistent place to live, nearly triple the county average. It’s also worse than the statewide average of 455 homeless people per 100,000 residents, and the national average of 195 people per 100,000 residents.

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