Counting Homeless a Tough Task

Dozens of volunteers armed with flashlights and gifts of bus passes and warm socks fanned out to Orange County’s shelters, parks, underpasses and trash bins Wednesday night to find the homeless.

The federal government mandated this daunting task of pinpointing the homeless in one night in the nearly 800-square-mile county as a prerequisite to future funding of services for them.

After a 2004 survey, Orange County officials estimated their homeless population at 35,000. Organizers of the latest count, however, say it is unlikely they will be able to find that many people before 9 a.m. today, when the survey must end, according to federal guidelines.

The volunteers had no problem counting 3,262 people staying in shelters. With no skid row to focus on, though, they were not sure how they would fare on the streets, where counting was to begin at 3 a.m. Rain would make it even harder to find people, said Karen Roper, director of county programs for the aging and homeless. “Streets, cars and people sleeping in garages and in someone else’s homes are the unknown quantities,” said Janine Ingram, executive director of OC Partnership, a nonprofit that coordinates efforts to help the homeless. “What we fear is that the count could somehow be used to cut funding in the future.”

County Supervisor Lou Correa, who volunteered to help in the count, agreed.

“This is a logistical nightmare,” he said. “What is the objective of requiring something you know cannot be done? My concern is that we are not going to get a true picture of the serious problem we have.”

Although homeless advocates know the count is difficult, they believe they have no choice but to do their best in finding as many people as they can to maintain the level of federal funding.

The county is spending about $50,000 on the count. Wells Fargo Bank offered $5,000, which was used to buy the bus passes and socks.

The county will receive $11.37 million for the homeless this year from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That is the largest homeless assistance grant in the county’s history. The money will go to 11 organizations.

At the Santa Ana National Guard Armory, the count of about 130 homeless began just after 6 p.m. Most of those coming in agreed to be surveyed, answering questions about their age, ethnicity, income and the causes of their homelessness. Volunteers helped them check off their responses.

“You never know,” said Christine Cole, 55. “Through this, someone could get some help.”

Cole was in line with about 100 people who were waiting with duffel bags, plastic bags and paper bags containing their possessions. Many said they might have been staying in motels if it were earlier in the month, since they receive government checks that usually run out by this time.

Many said they didn’t understand the purpose of the survey.

“I don’t get it. Why do they want to find the homeless people? Is it so they can catch us outside and arrest us?” said Reed Smith, a 37-year-old injured construction worker. “They can’t go out and find everyone in one night anyway.”