Homeless Problem Entrenched, Survey Says

A new survey of Ventura County’s homeless population shows the problem is mostly home-grown and is becoming more entrenched every day.

Nearly half of those seeking shelter have been on the streets for at least two years, according to the survey released Thursday. Conducted Feb. 24 at seven cold-weather shelters from Ojai to Simi Valley, the survey counted 300 people, more than two-thirds of whom were men. Only 48 women and 24 children were counted.

Overall, more than 1,300 people took advantage of shelter programs this winter--the largest number in the four years the Ventura County Homeless and Housing Coalition has conducted the head count.

County officials and social service advocates said they hope the survey bolsters efforts to establish a permanent, year-round facility for the population.

“It helps focus the community on exactly what the problems are and motivate people to find solutions,” said Supervisor Frank Schillo. He is co-chair of a committee that is trying to build a permanent facility for the area’s homeless on county-owned property near Camarillo.

“I think you’re hearing fewer people say this isn’t a problem,” Schillo said. “More people realize that if somebody lent [the homeless] a hand, they might not be in that situation.”

The 25-page report, entitled “A Place to Call Home,” provided insight into the county’s homeless population.

Of the 300 people who took advantage of winter shelter that night in February, 63% were at least 40 years old, 61% were white and 59% had lived in the county at least half a dozen years. One in 10 had been homeless at least a decade.

The numbers reflect an aging homeless population plagued by chronic problems that require a multi-pronged response that goes beyond just providing a bed and a meal, observers said.

The largest concentration of shelter users was in Oxnard, where 204 people took advantage of programs at the National Guard Armory and the Ventura County Rescue Mission.

Another 34 used the shelters in Ojai, while 18 in Simi Valley and 26 in Thousand Oaks sought shelter there.

Only about one-fourth of the total listed job loss as the reason they became homeless, while 18% said drugs and alcohol were to blame, 14% said they were evicted, and 8% cited divorce. Nearly a third said lack of a job was the main reason they couldn’t get back on their feet, while 12% said housing is too expensive.

Such numbers are useful to social service providers who apply for grants and design programs to meet the needs of the homeless, said Dan Hardy. He is president of the homeless coalition and executive director of Thousand Oaks-based housing provider Many Mansions.

But the numbers also remind people that homelessness is a persistent problem that requires a strong, coordinated solution, he said.

“There is still a core of homeless who are not being helped and who are not going away,” Hardy said. “This gives really a good idea of who the homeless people are in the county as opposed to what the stereotype is.”

The stereotype is that the homeless are a transient group, with no ties to any particular neighborhood or community.

There has long been disagreement in Ventura County about how many homeless people there are and what to do about them.

Until recently, the primary strategy was to give them a place to sleep during the winter months and let them fend for themselves the rest of the year.

But that strategy has come under attack in many quarters for being insufficient. In Ventura, where service providers have often criticized the city for not taking a stronger role in addressing the homeless issue, plans are in the works to create a 50-bed support services center to help people land jobs, find housing and stop using drugs.

Project Understanding, the social service provider heading the project, is currently looking for places to establish the facility.

“We are doing something that’s difficult; if it was easy we would have done it a decade ago,” said Rick Pearson, the agency’s director. “I figure all we can do is keep plugging away.”

In Simi Valley, where officials have formed a task force to deal with homelessness, advocate Jan

Gageby said she hopes the shelter survey raises awareness about the need for more programs to help people get back on their feet.

“We can have all of these little Band-Aid projects . . . but if people just keep closing their eyes, there won’t be any real solutions,” said Gageby, executive director of the Samaritan Center, a homeless assistance agency.

That’s the feeling at the county level as well, where elected officials and staff members are looking at a 17-acre parcel near Camarillo to create a facility to serve the homeless, mentally ill and veterans.

As envisioned, the concept will incorporate the RAIN project--the county’s only transitional shelter for homeless families, which has been operating out of temporary quarters near Camarillo Airport.

Karol Schulkin, head of the county’s homeless services program, said she believes the survey is important because the more people know about the problem, the more they might be willing to help.

“I really believe in the compassion and goodwill of people to help one another,” she said. “My hope is that as people understand the need, they’ll find a multiplicity of ways to respond based on their resources.”