Annual count reveals diversity of county homeless population

On Friday morning, 170 volunteers crawled out of their beds early in the morning to canvas every corner of Sonoma County, looking for people who didn’t have a bed to sleep in the previous night.
The Sonoma County Community Development Commission (SCCDC) is coordinating the 2009 homeless census and survey project, which first took place in  2005. In 2007, volunteers surveyed 1,974 homeless people, among them families, veterans, lone adults and youth, the mentally ill and migrant workers.
“It’s a really diverse population. It’s not just the people that people think of as homeless,” said Jenny Abramson, coordinator of the Sonoma County Continuum of Care Planning Group.
The count is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides the county about $2 million annually for transitional and permanent supportive housing and services.
Ted Sexauer is coordinating the count in the Sonoma Valley. The primary source of help for homeless people in the area is the Sonoma Overnight Shelter, which provides emergency shelter for up to nine people.
Sy Lenz, who founded the shelter with community help, said demand for the shelter’s services has remained constant, which he attributed to the recent spell of mild weather. The worse the weather, the more requests they get.
The shelter covers two-thirds of its operating costs with direct donations, making up the difference with monies from the city, county, state and federal government.
Lenz said they’ve been tightening their belts, like many nonprofits.
“One of the big questions this year is: ‘Did foreclosure have a role in you becoming homeless?’” said Abramson. Anecdotally, people who work with the homeless have heard about foreclosures affecting people – mainly people renting from a landlord who lost the property through foreclosure.
The issue is a huge concern nationwide. The National Alliance to End Homelessness projects an increase of 1.5 million homeless due to the crisis in the housing markets over the next two years, said Abramson.
SCCDC is the lead agency for the Sonoma County Continuum of Care, the framework of shelter, housing and services available to homeless persons in Sonoma County.
Teams canvassed the streets on foot or by car, and tallied all homeless persons in each defined area. A specialized effort was undertaken in the afternoon to count adolescent and teenaged homeless youth. The data from the street count will be supplemented by a survey of 600 homeless persons to be conducted over the next two weeks. Final results of the count will be published in a report to be issued in April.
Some of those canvassing the streets are people who are currently homeless who will be paid for their time. Coordinators are relying on their knowledge and experience to obtain more complete information. For more information call 707.824.2852.