North County Homeless ‘Summit’

Faced with a swelling homeless population and widely scattered services, North County’s elected leaders took a first step Thursday toward coordinating efforts to provide housing and care.

County Supervisor John MacDonald called a “summit” in Vista, at which frustrated service providers decried the area’s limited resources to an audience of elected representatives from Oceanside, Vista, Carlsbad, Encinitas and Escondido.

Although homeless estimates vary radically, MacDonald’s office believes 14,000 farm workers alone are without shelter in North County. Yet there are only 10 beds for homeless married couples and six beds for adrift minors in the area.

There is also a widespread perception that homelessness is confined to urban areas. MacDonald said the stereotype of North County residents is, “they’re white, affluent, they don’t have any needs.”

MacDonald said he will soon invite the mayors of North County cities to meet with him to evaluate the homeless problem and begin crafting a plan for improving and coordinating services.