Volunteers Wrap SD County Homeless Count

More than 1,500 volunteers fanned out around San Diego County in the pre-dawn hours today for the annual tally of the homeless to see how many people are living on the streets or in shelters.

The census results are a major part of how much funding is received from the federal government to pay for homeless services.

“When I first started, you’re a little afraid to approach someone whose homeless,’’ Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, told NBC7/39.

”I found that a lot of these individuals just have hard stories,’’ Atkins said. “When you start to talk to someone, you realize how close and personal it is -- just the difficulties in life. You find people on the streets you’d never imagine.’’

A volunteer named Maggie told Fox5 San Diego she encountered an older Dutch woman, and a couple homeless for five years in which the man was diabetic and the woman was blind.

Based on 2015 results, it was estimated that there were 8,742 homeless people in San Diego County -- some on the streets and some in shelters -- an increase of 2.8 percent from the prior year.

Surveys of the homeless found that more than 70 percent had been homeless for at least one year, almost 28 percent were afflicted by drug or alcohol addiction or severe mental illness, nearly 27 percent had no health insurance, and more than 45 percent had visited an emergency room in the previous year.

On Wednesday, the San Diego Housing Commission and several other community organizations served 1,215 people at the Project Homeless Connect, providing them with food, clothing and services like haircuts and legal aid.
The total was 70 more than last year.

Next week, Supervisors Greg Cox and Ron Roberts plan to introduce a plan to bring more intensive services to homeless people with serious mental health issues. Project One For All will include all 18 cities in the region and
community organizations.

• Related:
• Extra $6.3 Million OK’d For Behavioral Health In San Diego County
• ‘Giving San Diegans’ Helped Make Project Homeless Connect A Success

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--City News Service/Morguefile photo