The California board · 36 city files
Every California referral should land
Operation Iron Gate is referral tracking software from Pathfinders for Hope, a California 501(c)(3). A referral is not finished when it is sent. It is finished when the receiving organization confirms the person arrived. The first pilot, the North Bay Pilot, is being prepared in Vallejo. Each city file below gives that city’s latest official count, where its referrals break, and how its organizations can follow the pilot.
The cities
Operation Iron Gate, city by city
36 city files shown
Vallejo, Solano County. The North Bay Pilot is being prepared here, projected for January 2027. See the North Bay Pilot.
| File | City | Region | Latest count | Area counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Anaheim | Orange County | 1,432people homeless in Anaheim | City of Anaheim, January 2026 count |
| 02 | Bakersfield | Central Valley | 2,690people homeless across the county | Kern County, 2026 count |
| 03 | Chula Vista | San Diego County | 695people homeless in Chula Vista | City of Chula Vista, January 2026 count |
| 04 | Corona | Inland Empire | 254people homeless in Corona | City of Corona, January 2025 count |
| 05 | Elk Grove | Sacramento area | 123people unsheltered in Elk Grove | City of Elk Grove, January 2026 count |
| 06 | Fontana | Inland Empire | 470people homeless in Fontana | City of Fontana, January 2026 count |
| 07 | Fremont | Bay Area & North Bay | 852people homeless in Fremont | City of Fremont, January 2026 count |
| 08 | Fresno | Central Valley | 3,254people homeless across the region | Fresno and Madera counties, 2026 count, preliminary |
| 09 | Garden Grove | Orange County | 334people homeless in Garden Grove | City of Garden Grove, January 2026 count |
| 10 | Glendale | Los Angeles County | 220people homeless in Glendale | City of Glendale, January 2026 count |
| 11 | Hayward | Bay Area & North Bay | 404people homeless in Hayward | City of Hayward, January 2026 count |
| 12 | Huntington Beach | Orange County | 297people homeless in the city | City of Huntington Beach, January 2026 count |
| 13 | Irvine | Orange County | 49people homeless in Irvine | City of Irvine, January 2026 count |
| 14 | Lancaster | Los Angeles County | 515people in shelter on count night | City of Lancaster, January 2026 count |
| 15 | Long Beach | Los Angeles County | 3,729people homeless in Long Beach | City of Long Beach, 2026 count |
| 16 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles County | 45,194people with no home in LA | City of Los Angeles, 2026 count |
| 17 | Modesto | Central Valley | 1,603people homeless in Modesto | City of Modesto, January 2025 count |
| 18 | Moreno Valley | Inland Empire | 154people homeless in Moreno Valley | City of Moreno Valley, January 2025 count |
| 19 | Oakland | Bay Area & North Bay | 4,410people homeless in the city | City of Oakland, 2026 count, preliminary |
| 20 | Oceanside | San Diego County | 569people homeless in Oceanside | City of Oceanside, January 2026 count |
| 21 | Ontario | Inland Empire | 298people homeless in Ontario | City of Ontario, January 2026 count |
| 22 | Oxnard | Central Coast & Ventura | 532people homeless in Oxnard | City of Oxnard, January 2026 count |
| 23 | Palmdale | Los Angeles County | 215people in shelter on count night | City of Palmdale, January 2026 count |
| 24 | Pasadena | Los Angeles County | 577people homeless in Pasadena | City of Pasadena, January 2026 count |
| 25 | Rancho Cucamonga | Inland Empire | 101people homeless in the city | City of Rancho Cucamonga, January 2026 count |
| 26 | Riverside | Inland Empire | 3,990people in shelter or on the street | Riverside County, January 2025 count |
| 27 | Sacramento | Sacramento area | 7,458people homeless across the county | Sacramento County, January 2026 count |
| 28 | Salinas | Central Coast & Ventura | 1,249people homeless in Salinas | City of Salinas, January 2026 count |
| 29 | San Bernardino | Inland Empire | 1,172people homeless in the city | City of San Bernardino, 2026 count |
| 30 | San Diego | San Diego County | 9,803people homeless across the county | San Diego County, 2026 count |
| 31 | San Francisco | Bay Area & North Bay | 7,973people counted in one morning | City and County of San Francisco, 2026 count |
| 32 | San Jose | Bay Area & North Bay | 6,503people homeless in the city | City of San Jose, January 2025 count |
| 33 | Santa Ana | Orange County | 1,315people homeless in Santa Ana | City of Santa Ana, 2026 count |
| 34 | Santa Clarita | Los Angeles County | 90people in shelter on count night | City of Santa Clarita, January 2026 count |
| 35 | Santa Rosa | Bay Area & North Bay | 1,140people homeless in the city | City of Santa Rosa, January 2025 count |
| 36 | Stockton | Central Valley | 3,306people homeless across the county | San Joaquin County, 2026 count |
No city file matches. Try another name, or request a briefing for a city not listed.
Counts cover different areas, from one city to a whole county, and different years. Each city file links its count to the source.
The rulebook
Four rules the pilot is built on
No ID at the door
In practiceA missing ID does not end a handoff. The referral stays open while the ID problem is worked, with no promise of same-day eligibility, housing or a bed.
Yes by default
In practiceA “no” needs a written reason before it is recorded as a denial.
No dead ends
In practice“Unknown” cannot be picked as the final outcome. Someone owns the next step until it is known.
Tracked handoff
In practice“Sent” and “arrived” are two statuses. The sender records one; the organization that receives the person records the other.
The questions
Operation Iron Gate in California: questions
Is Operation Iron Gate running in these cities?
Not yet. Operation Iron Gate has not launched anywhere. The first pilot is being prepared in Vallejo. The city pages explain the approach to each city's organizations, so they can follow the pilot and ask to be briefed.
Why is there a page for each city?
Because each city's homelessness response is different: its own count, its own lead agency and its own places where referrals break. Each city page carries that city's latest official count and what it shows.
How can an organization outside Vallejo get involved?
Request a briefing. Tell us your city and whether you send referrals, receive them, provide a resource or carry public responsibility. The first conversation is exploratory, and nothing is signed in it.
I need help myself. Where do I go?
Operation Iron Gate is not open for public intake yet. GATEHOUSE, our community platform, where Pathfinders for Hope does your intake, barrier review and the calls to agencies, is open now: register on GATEHOUSE to ask questions and follow the build. Joining GATEHOUSE does not put you in the North Bay Pilot, which runs only in Vallejo and Solano County.
How does coordinated entry differ by county in California, and what problems does that create?
Each California Continuum of Care, usually one county or a group of counties, runs its own coordinated entry system, as HUD requires. Assessment tools, priority rules and referral steps can change at every CoC line. When a person is referred across that line, the handoff often has no shared status, and people can be lost between systems. Operation Iron Gate, from Pathfinders for Hope, is designed to keep those handoffs visible. Its first pilot is being prepared in Vallejo.
The evidence
Every figure is cited
Where these figures come from. Each city page links its own count to the agency or report that published it. Statewide, California's State Auditor found that nearly one in three people left homelessness programs for a destination nobody recorded, and that tracking of outcomes stopped in 2021: Report 2023-102.1. Operation Iron Gate has not been tested in the field, and no results are claimed anywhere on this site.
The inside track
Don’t wait for the pilot. Walk in now.
Operation Iron Gate starts in Vallejo. Its community platform, GATEHOUSE, is open today. California agencies, nonprofits and neighbors can join to watch the North Bay Pilot get built, ask our team anything, and help decide what the full system becomes.
Already a member? Log in
GATEHOUSEMember pass
OPEN NOW- Follow the pilotAnnouncements and Pilot Updates as it is built, the good and the bad.
- Ask the teamOpen Q&A with our team and members who know the referral system.
- Report a dead endSent someone for help and nothing happened? Report it and follow the fix.
- Shape the buildTell us what to add, change or remove before it reaches more cities.