The greatest rental housing need is for extremely low and very low-income families, followed by elderly and special needs populations. The largest amount of low income renting households is of the white elderly majority. There are 126 shelter beds located in Redwood City. There are emergency services, which are long term service, and there are transitional services, which are temporary. The City also provides direct funding to non-profit organizations serving homeless families, homeless individuals, including persons who are senior citizens, homeless youth and homeless persons who have mental disabilities.
Additional assistance is provided to special needs populations residing in group housing.
There are no public housing units located in Redwood City. The San Mateo County Housing Authority administers the Section 8 Program that provides housing subsidies to very low-income households. The largest number of applicants awaiting assistance is low-income family households with severe cost burden. It is estimated that for every one family on the waiting list, there are another three comparable families in need of assistance but not on the current waiting list for assistance. There are a number of public policies at the local, state and federal levels, which create barriers to affordable housing.