Some 4,000 people in Alameda County are homeless.  They are the elderly, families, men, women and children.

Many view homelessness as an urban problem, left to our cities to resolve. In fact, most of the visible homeless in Alameda County are estimated to be in Oakland and Berkeley, according to a 2015 report on homelessness in Alameda County by EveryOne Home.

While there are no estimates of the homeless population in Castro Valley, we do have a homeless community, some long-time residents who suddenly found themselves without shelter.

Castro Valley Matters is participating in the SF Homeless Project, an initiative spearheaded by San Francisco Chronicle Editor Audrey Cooper. It initially started as a project centered on homelessness in San Francisco, but it has grown to encompass over 70 organizations, including Castro Valley Matters.

The premise of the SF Homeless Project is to create a “wave” of coverage to better inform policy affecting the homeless.  “You will not be able to log onto Facebook, turn on the radio, watch TV, read a newspaper, log onto Twitter without seeing a story about the causes and solutions to homelessness,” Cooper recently said in The New York Times.

Homelessness is not just a San Francisco, Oakland or San Jose problem. It is not just an issue for Castro Valley. It is not an urban vs. suburban issue. Homelessness affects residents and communities throughout the Bay Area.

This  is why this week, and on an on-going basis, Castro Valley Matters will be publishing stories about homelessness in Castro Valley. We want to understand homelessness in Castro Valley so that our community can develop informed solutions.

We don’t pretend to know all of the stories or all of the solutions, so we are relying on you to help guide the conversation.

We encourage you to provide your stories to help Castro Valley become a more livable community for all.

See a letter from the participants in the SF Homeless Project.