Count of Meeting & Party homeless No Rental Fee population deemed a success
The 2017 pointin-time count was declared the most successful ever at the monthly meeting of the Imperial Valley Homeless Task Force on Thursday at Desert Trails RV Park.
Karen Hall, chair of the IV HTF count committee noted the reason for the count was to bring greater awareness about the homeless situation in the Valley. It is also aimed at bringing about solutions as well as eradicate or reduce homelessness to an insignificant number.
There were 1,157 homeless counted throughout Imperial County between Jan. 27-28, compared to 673 the year before, noted Hall. “We had 176 volunteers who participated and that contributed to our success,” she said
“It was a cold night and the numbers probably would have been higher if it was warmer,” explained Ken Woods, special projects coordinator for Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego and Imperial and count organizer.
Overall numbers show many among the homeless, many more were male. Overall there were 61 percent male, 38 percent female and 1 percent unidentified gender in the Valley. In El Centro, 33 percent were male and 67 percent female.
El Centro has only one shelter, for females, which partly explains the reverse trend of other cities, but count investigators did not restrict themselves to shelters, noted Woods. “These figures should tell you we need more shelters,” he said. “We also need to do more to prevent and end homelessness.”
Break down by age was also noted with one percent under 18 years of age, eight percent 19 to 24, 64 percent 25 to 54, 25 percent 55 to 74 and two percent over 75. As for the length of time some were homeless, 52 percent have been homeless for less than a year, 23 percent for one to five years, 18 percent for five to 15 years and seven percent for over 15 years.
Les Smith, IV HTF board member remarked it was an eye opener. “We need to work hard to get the rest of the community to take ownership of the issue and get word out in the community, but the count was a great success,” he said.
Some comments were recorded by the homeless during the count and provided during Thursday’s meeting although they were not attributed: “My husband and I have been homeless since we both lost our jobs three years ago; all we need are jobs.”
Dan Tewalt, homeless care coordinator for Imperil County Office of Education, noted thanks to the McKinney-Vento Act, passed in 1987, federal law mandates homeless children have a right to remain in the same school even if they move. Academically, homeless students he explained are typically six months behind peers because of frequent moves.
Yet school is one of the most secure and stable places for homeless children. “Providing education can break the cycle of homelessness that persists through succeeding generations,” he said. “School is the one place, maybe not the only place, where students can meet and have a positive experience.”
Orlando Johnson, former IV HTF chairman, expressed hope the increased count will result in the Department of Housing and Urban Development will provide additional funding. He cautioned HUD could decide to wait another year to see if the 2017 increase of homeless was just an irregular occurrence and instead base funding on average of several years if next year’s count is lower.
“I think the 2017 count was more accurate because of increased volunteers, they were able to spread out over a larger area and they received more intense training,” he said. “Also, we got a lot of support from other agencies like the Imperial County Department of Social Services and other nonprofits that really made a difference.”