Homelessness Rose 9% Through 2025 as Dyer Proposes Second Enforcement Team

Homelessness increased 9.2% between 2023 and 2025 in Fresno and Madera counties despite the implementation of Fresno’s No Camping Ordinance in 2024, according to verified Point in Time count data released by the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care.

4,905 persons experienced homelessness at the time of the 2025 count. 3,000 (62%) were unsheltered. 1,693 stayed at an emergency shelter. 170 were enrolled in transitional housing.

Mayor Jerry Dyer now proposes funding a second Homeless Assistance Response Team (HART) in the FY 2027 general fund — one sergeant and four officers at an annual cost of $907,000. The first HART has made over 2,000 arrests and citations of unsheltered persons since September 2024.

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At recent city budget hearings, council member Miguel Arias and several other council members spoke in support of the additional team. Many community members spoke against it. None spoke in support.

When asked what impact the no camping ordinance had on decreasing homelessness, Dyer told Community Alliance it “had no effect.”

Unverified preliminary data from the 2026 count indicates 1,619 unsheltered and 1,635 sheltered persons. The 2026 count excluded those who refused the survey, a departure from past methodology that raises accuracy questions.

Of the 4,905 total persons homeless in the 2025 count, 1,400 (29%) reported a substance abuse disorder and 1,500 (31%) reported a serious mental illness. 700 to 750 are aged 55 and older, the fastest-growing demographic, driven by rent increases and fixed incomes that have not kept pace.

“Over the past several years, Fresno has received unprecedented levels of funding to address homelessness,” said Desiree Martinez, founder of the nonprofit We Are Not Indivisible. “Those investments created shelter beds, outreach programs, supportive services and housing opportunities. However, what concerns me is what has happened since the 2026 PIT Count was conducted in January. We have seen multiple shelters and housing programs close or begin closing. Families and individuals who were previously housed or sheltered are being displaced back into homelessness. At the same time, new housing developments intended to serve unhoused residents have remained vacant while people continue sleeping outside.”

Advocates report that HART forcibly displaces unhoused individuals and destroys personal property including clothing, medications, and documents such as birth certificates and IDs required for securing permanent housing. Records indicate the Fresno Police Department has arrested or cited many unhoused persons more than once.

FMCoC chair Laura Moreno told the Fresno Bee in 2023: “I’m absolutely sure we are missing people. The transient nature of the homeless population means that it can be easy to miss some of the people who are seldom out in the open and easy to see.”

Federal and state funding agencies use the count numbers to allocate resources for shelters, housing, and services.

The Breakdown

• The verified 2025 Point in Time count recorded 4,905 homeless persons in Fresno and Madera counties, a 9.2% increase from 2023.
• Fresno’s No Camping Ordinance, implemented in 2024, has generated over 2,000 arrests and citations since September 2024.
• Mayor Dyer’s FY 2027 budget proposes a second HART team: one sergeant, four officers, $907,000 annual cost.
• Council member Miguel Arias and other council members supported the proposal at budget hearings. Community members spoke against it; none spoke for it.
• The preliminary 2026 count shows a decrease but excluded survey refusals, a methodology change that officials and advocates say compromises accuracy.

What This Means for You

The 2025 data shows homelessness rising. The proposed second HART team is one of five additions to the general fund, a budget decision the council will vote on.

What You Can Do

The city budget process for FY 2027 is ongoing. Contact your city council representative to state your position on the proposed second HART team and on alternative uses of that funding. The Mayor’s office and council members’ contact information are available on the City of Fresno website.

What to Watch

The material states the Mayor told Community Alliance the No Camping Ordinance “had no effect” on reducing homelessness, yet he is proposing to double the enforcement capacity that ordinance created. The question a voter might ask: if the first team had no measurable effect on the problem it was funded to solve, why does the administration believe a second team at the same annual cost will perform differently?

The material also states that “new housing developments intended to serve unhoused residents have remained vacant while people continue sleeping outside.” A reasonable follow-up: who built those developments, with what public subsidy, and why are they sitting empty? If public dollars funded construction that isn’t housing anyone, that’s a accountability question about how the administration and council are overseeing those contracts and whether the performance requirements attached to that funding are being enforced.

Finally, the 2026 count methodology changed to exclude survey refusals — a decision that makes year-over-year comparison unreliable and that directly affects how much federal and state funding the region qualifies for. Who made that methodology decision, and did the council weigh in on a change that could cost the city resources?