The Homeless Census

On any given night, America has more than 650,000 homeless people. During the course of a year, 1.6 million Americans will experience at least one episode of homelessness. We know these statistics because every two years the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires communities across the country to set aside a 24-hour period within the last 10 days of January to count the homeless.

The biennial Homeless Census is a point-in-time count that gives our community a snapshot of homelessness in our area. On January 26th and 27th, the Homeless Collaborative set out to count the homeless in Kern County. Over 180 volunteers from 40 different agencies were dispatched throughout the County's 8200 square miles to accomplish the task. Beginning with the shelter count on Wednesday night, teams of volunteers continued the next morning looking for individuals and families who spent the previous night on the street, or in a car, or in a park, or in an abandoned building or in any other place not meant for human habitation.

So why do we go to all this effort? For a number of reasons.

• It helps us to determine the extent of homelessness in our community
• It helps us to gather important demographic information regarding the homeless (how many women are homeless? Children? How many homeless Veterans do we have? etc.)
• It provides an opportunity for direct contact with this segment of the population
• It helps us to track trends and strategically plan to target specific services and housing opportunities for the homeless
• It positions us to apply for as much as $3.5 million annually in federal funding to provide new transitional and permanent supportive housing projects.

What will our homeless count tell us this time? We should find out in about 30 days. We do know through other data-collection methods, that during the course of a year more than 3,000 individuals receive services in Kern County because they are homeless. In the 2009 count, there were about 1,500 homeless individuals in Kern County, 56 percent of which, or 832 individuals, were unsheltered -- a 15 percent increase over 2007. Will we have an increase in 2011? It is hard to say, but we suspect the number may be up due to the poor economy.

No matter what our census tells us, there will always be those who were not counted but they exist on the edge of homelessness.

They are either doubled up or "couch surfing" with friends and relatives, or paying extremely high proportions of their limited resources for rent or motels just to have a roof over their head and a bed in which to sleep. Many are facing homelessness because of the effects of the foreclosure crisis and high unemployment rates in Kern County. Because of their current circumstances, these people are at imminent risk of homelessness.

I do know one thing, the agencies represented by the Kern County Homeless Collaborative do an amazing job working to address the issues involved. I am so thankful that I am able to work alongside so many wonderful caring people. I will post the results of the census as they become available.

Meanwhile, please take the time to read the articles and view the videos from the Census I have posted below.

The Bakersfield Californian article is here.

A story from channel 17 recorded during the shelter count is here.




And here's a story from channel 23 recorded during the unsheltered count.



And finally, here is an editorial from the Californian.