San Jose
– The county’s exhaustive street-by-street count of its homeless
population in December found 401 people living on Gilroy’s streets
and in the city’s shelters, and 7,121 homeless people across the
county.
San Jose – The county’s exhaustive street-by-street count of its homeless population in December found 401 people living on Gilroy’s streets and in the city’s shelters, and 7,121 homeless people across the county.
“These numbers are shocking,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Jim Beall, co-chair of the county’s Homeless Task Force. “This is especially troubling given the level of wealth in our county.”
Of Gilroy’s 401 homeless, 152 were on the street, with 249 in shelters. Morgan Hill had 21 people on the street and nine in shelter, and San Martin had nine street homeless and 96 people spending the night in a shelter.
Countywide, there were 2,778 people in temporary shelters and 4,343 living in places such as cars, garages and parks. Margaret Gregg, county homeless concerns coordinator, said she expected that number to be closer to 3,000.
“We have a more serious problem than we thought, and it’s going to take a lot of resources and everyone’s willingness to solve it,” she said. “Most people like to believe that the homeless are just those that you see downtown. We learned that they are everywhere – under bridges, near creek beds, in the hills and in neighborhoods throughout the county.”
The count is one of the first steps of an ambitious journey to solve chronic homelessness. Earlier this month county and city officials and homeless service providers convened the Santa Clara County Task Force to End Homelessness in 10 Years. It is a goal inherited from President Bush, who has reprised the Interagency Council on Homelessness and shifted the emphasis from emergency care and services to a finding a permanent solution to the country’s homeless problem.
It was conducted in the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 14 and 15 by community volunteers paired with homeless individuals. The teams canvassed neighborhoods, businesses and open spaces. Along with the count, volunteers conducted a survey of the homeless population to find out how they became that way, how long they’ve been homeless, and their need for services.
“The needs assessment will help us get to the root of the problem,” said Supervisor Don Gage, also co-chair of the task force. “These are important steps toward truly tackling the needs of families in a way that makes it possible to put being homeless behind them.”
The results of the count and survey will effect how much federal funding the county receives to deal with its homeless problem. Two weeks ago, the county received a $9.2 million federal grant for homeless services. Gregg said that the results of the two-day count will be analyzed to project how many people in the county are homeless at some point during the year. That number has been previously set at about 20,000.
Final results from the count and the survey should be available in late March.