On any given night, 1,064 people find themselves without permanent shelter in Guilford County, new data shows.

The annual “point-in-time” count of the homeless Jan. 27 found that at least that many people were living on the street, in shelters or in transitional housing, according to a report released today by Partners Ending Homelessness.

The annual count is a snapshot of homelessness in the county and officials caution it is not a complete picture of the situation. People often decline to take the voluntary survey and others may not be found during the 24-hour period that it takes place.

In 2009, the point-in-time count found 1,052 people experiencing homelessness in Guilford County.

This year’s count of the homeless also showed:

• a 55 percent increase in the number of military veterans
• a 31 percent increase in the number of domestic violence victims; and
• an 8 percent increase in the number of children

– from ‘Snapshot’ survey shows homelessness on rise : News-Record.com

My experience with our StreetWatch team, as well as observations at shelter and meal locations, and conversations with police officers and homeless people, tell me that homelessness is increasing in our city and county, as it is across the nation. Counting homeless people is a notoriously difficult, and ultimately impossible, task. So I tend to go by trends, based on who we see and who we serve.

Last week, I spoke with Jehan Benton-Clark, director of Partners Ending Homelessness (PEH), about this year’s homeless count totals. We discussed the inherent limitations of a one-day homeless count, and other available data from local homeless service providers which presents a broader picture of the increasing homeless population in our area. I anticipate a more detailed public report from PEH.

According to the 2009 count, there were 473 homeless people in emergency shelters, only 86 of whom are chronically homeless.   Just for fun, I might make a list of the sheltered homeless people that I know who are chronically homeless.  Who wants to bet that I could come up with more than 86, just in Greensboro?

But wait, it gets better.  According to the 2007 count, there were 502 homeless people in emergency shelters.  This was before we began the community shelter program.  The WE! winter shelters in Greensboro just opened in December 2008 and added 100 emergency shelter beds.  And yet, we only had 473 people in shelter this winter, including all of the county’s homeless shelters and their winter overflow beds, and the new winter emergency program.  Anyone see a discrepancy?  So technically, the number of sheltered homeless people went down this year?  Um, what?

I saw James the night of the homeless count, but didn’t get to spend much time with him.  I’ll probably see him next week on NightWatch. We usually get to see at least one train go by while we’re there.  Everybody gets still and just watches it roll past. The train noises echo off the concrete bridge and ring in our ears.  James has a front row seat for at least a dozen trains a day. I love trains. And I love James. But I’ll be glad when the day comes that James has to leave home for us to watch trains together.

Update, 08/28/2010: James went to live with a family member after the death of a friend under the bridge in July. As far as I know, he’s still living inside.

During the afternoon, I checked out some outside homeless camps and some sleeping spots in empty houses and commercial buildings, with the help of a friend who’s been homeless in Greensboro for about four years.  He also pointed out camps and panhandling spots all over Greensboro.  We didn’t find anybody at the sleeping spots during the afternoon, but it was early for people to be there, and we’ll visit again on our Friday NightWatch street outreaches, bringing hot meals, blankets and other supplies.  Beginning at around 8:00 p.m., dozens of volunteers and Greensboro police officers went out to count homeless people who are living outside, and my friend rode with an officer who was counting with us for the first time.

During the night count, another currently homeless friend and I rode with downtown cops Tim Tepedino and Brad Johnson.  We checked bridges, camps, parked vehicles, parking decks, abandoned buildings, warehouses and street locations.  We counted 10 homeless people and also ran into some people who had already been counted by other teams. I saw old friends and made some new ones, and found additional locations to visit on NightWatch.  Totals from the count should be announced in about two weeks.  Stay tuned.

» Links to news coverage (stories and video) here.

Volunteers Count Homeless People In Greensboro (no longer available online)
Source: digtriad.com
GREENSBORO – Police officers and volunteers took to the streets Wednesday night to count the number of homeless people in Greensboro…

Communities identify homeless numbers (no longer available online)
Source: news14.com
GREENSBORO – Hundreds of volunteers in Greensboro hit the streets, shelters and soup kitchens just before dawn Wednesday to count the number of homeless in their communities as part of a federal mandate by Housing and Urban Development…

From my on-the-street perspective, it certainly appears that hunger and homelessness are increasing in Greensboro.  There are more and newer faces at free meal sites, homeless shelters and the downtown library, one of our de facto day centers.  I went to Weaver House the other day looking for a homeless friend, and for the first time in years, I didn’t recognize a single face among the crowd of homeless people hanging out around the doorway and in the parking lot.

I’m hearing from homeless service providers that their numbers are up.  There were problems with our county homeless count last year, resulting in an undercount, and I’m not depending on the next count for an accurate number, either.  But my eyes tell me that there are more homeless and hungry people in town.  And it’s apparently going to get worse before it gets better. 

1.) I’m very thankful for the “housing first” initiative that is moving chronically homeless people from the street to permanent housing, but… I’m growing increasingly frustrated with the all-too-frequent staff and program changes among community support providers, as well as the limitations of available mental health services. (I know — money, money, money — but still…) Giving chronically homeless people an apartment is great, but being homeless isn’t the root problem — it’s a symptom of other problems. How do we define “success?” More homeless people in apartments than on the streets? Or more lives transformed? (I know how I define it…)

2.) We had another day center meeting today. There’s some exciting, forward movement involving players and places, some of which was revealed in the meeting today, but none of which I think I’m supposed to write about yet, so that’s all I’ll say about that for now. I hope to see more involvement from currently and formerly homeless people at future meetings, and I spoke up about that. (I know! Imagine ME speaking up… )

The desire of the homeless folks and homeless advocates that I’ve spoken to is to have currently and formerly homeless people be directly engaged in planning and running the day center. (Repairers of the Breach is a model of this kind of day center.) We can have bureaucracy or we can build community, but I don’t think we can do both. I’m going to keep advocating for and working toward community. (And I have some kindred spirits in that effort.)

P.S. It was a lunch meeting, and the leftovers (BBQ and chicken) went to Food Not Bombs for tonight’s dinner at St. Mary’s. That’s usually a vegan meal, and I have some friends who were no doubt happily surprised. (No offense, vegans. I don’t do BBQ or fried chicken, either.)

3.) After the day center meeting, I went downtown to see some of the bike cops from GPD’s Center City Resource Team. One had called to tell me about the death of a homeless man whose camp I first visited with police officers during a homeless count. (Very sad. I hope to share more soon.) Another had called to ask me to meet with a homeless man who just got out of jail and wants help so that he doesn’t end up back behind bars. (Please pray for him!) In the few minutes that I stood outside talking to the officers, I counted more than half a dozen homeless friends walking by or sitting on benches along Elm Street. Hopefully, I’ll soon be seeing them at a day center. And instead of sitting around or walking aimlessly, they can become active participants in a life-transforming community.

4.) A group of high schoolers from Westover Church went out and did street outreach today. They did a water distribution in the downtown/Lee Street area where our homeless friends hang out. I wasn’t able to ride along this time , but I heard through the grapevine that their efforts were much appreciated.

» Read about their previous outreach.

» View official 2008 homeless count numbers for Guilford County

According to the official count, there are 101 chronically homeless adults in all of Guilford County, 89 homeless people with serious mental illness, and 22 with HIV/AIDS. No way. Not even if you were just counting Greensboro. If I sat down with my friends and started making a list of names, I bet we’d pass those numbers within minutes. And keep going. (But people’s business is their business, so don’t expect an actual list of names. Sorry.)

Here’s the thing with the count: You count who you can count on the day of the count using the methodology that HUD gives you to count with. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. They never do. I’m not sure what the answer is. But there must be a better way to count. Because an undercount isn’t much of a count, is it?

Frustrating…

“If there are only 57 homeless people on the street in Greensboro, then I know every one of them by name.”

I had to laugh. We both know a whole lot more than 57 unsheltered homeless people in Greensboro.

To be continued… maybe.