Daily resources for homeless residents

As support services for homeless residents in Santa Cruz County continue to dwindle due to limited resources, closures and budget issues at the local and national level, we’ve compiled resources to help those in search of restrooms, showers, water and other necessities.

Housing Matters, Santa Cruz County’s largest homeless services provider, closed their Day Services program on March 31, which provided restrooms, showers, charging stations, water, mail services and more to the county’s unhoused residents.

Santa Cruz city and county officials have been meeting to discuss how to bridge the service gap since the closure was announced in October 2025 and have prepared some temporary measures, see below.

Toilets, hand washing and showers

The city has added portable toilets and handwashing stations at three locations, according to Director of Homeless Resources and Community Programs Larry Imwalle:

The parking lot on Church Street, between Cedar and Center streets.
The parking lot at the intersection of Soquel and Benito avenues.
Depot Park.

The city is weighing a fourth location in the Harvey West area. Imwalle said these portable units will be open 24/7, will be serviced daily by the units’ vendor and reminded residents that the city’s existing public restroom facilities will continue operating at their normal hours and availability.

A staff report from February 2026 says the city is also exploring mobile showers, but Imwalle said there’s no timeline for a start date. There are a handful of existing public showers or mobile shower services for unhoused residents throughout the county, including:

Showers at St. Francis Catholic Kitchen Monday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Clothes at St. Francis Catholic Kitchen Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Showers and laundry at Encompass’ Thrive Hive Transitional Age Youths Drop-In Center for homeless youth ages 15-24, on Monday through Thursday, from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Showers at the Watsonville Health Center Monday and Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Showers offered through the Mid-County Homeless Coalition at different times and days:
- St. John’s Episcopal Church, on Tuesdays from 3 to 5:15 p.m. and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
- Trinity Presbyterian Church, on Wednesday afternoons.

Mail Service

The county will provide temporary mail services only for those enrolled in public benefits, such as Medi-Cal, CalFresh or CalWORKs. The county said the temporary mail services will not handle personal mail or packages.

There are two locations with pickup available Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.:

Santa Cruz: 1020 Emeline Avenue.
Watsonville: 500 Westridge Drive.

Mail will be held for up to 30 days, after which it will be shredded if coming from the county or returned to sender if from another government agency.

Those currently enrolled in Housing Matters’ mail services will not be automatically enrolled in the county’s temporary service and the county has already begun transferring mail service users.

To sign up for the county’s mail services, the county is directing people to the Employment and Benefits Services Division:

Over the phone: +1 (888) 421-8080. Phones are monitored Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Phones are closed most Wednesdays.
In person: Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at either 1020 Emeline Avenue, Santa Cruz, or 500 Westridge Drive, Watsonville.

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