The San Benito Homeless Coalition conducted a census of the
homeless population Wednesday morning, a first step to being able
to qualify for Housing and Urban Development funding in the
future.
The San Benito Homeless Coalition conducted a census of the homeless population Wednesday morning, a first step to being able to qualify for Housing and Urban Development funding in the future.
Executive director Cindy Parr recruited volunteers who paired off with a client from the homeless shelter to go out at 5:30 a.m. to the dark corners of the county where homeless residents camp out.
The early-morning timing is because “they scatter early in the morning or go recycle,” Parr said. “That time in the morning, they are still at their camps.”
The count includes clients who stay at the shelter regularly, those who stay at Emmaus House, the families who are sheltered in the Workforce and Community Development’s winter shelter program, as well as those who stay on the streets.
“We have to participate every year in a census,” Parr said.
The tally from the Wednesday morning census was not available at press time.
An unofficial census was led last year by Randy Brown, a member of the Homeless Coalition board. Parr said the numbers came in at 481, but that did not include Emmaus House or the family winter shelter.
“We will hit the different tracks in San Benito County,” Parr said. “We will go out literally to spots where the homeless go.”
The census tracking will be improved if the agency receives a community foundation grant to purchase a Homeless Management Information system. Doug Emerson, a city council member and board member for the Homeless Coalition, wrote the grant application. The system would be used by four agencies, including local law enforcement.
“We have to have that in place in order to get the continuum of care,” Parr said.
The federal government has grants available through Housing and Urban Development through what they refer to as continuum of care homeless programs. San Benito is not part of a continuum of care, but Parr is working with Monterey County to include San Benito under that county’s umbrella so that it will be eligible for more federal grants.
Parr added that the continuum of care is focused not just on emergency shelters, but on addressing the long-term issue of homelessness.
“It’s all part of the HUD requirements,” Parr said. “It will get us more funding down the road.”
The focus for the Homeless Coalition continues to be a permanent facility that would be open year round. Parr mentioned a recent news broadcast about a Gilroy property owner who is looking to donate a warehouse in that city for a homeless shelter.
“You think of all the empty buildings just sitting there,” Parr said. “All it’s going to take is an owner of one of those buildings to say, ‘I have this not in use,’ and donate it.”
See the full story in the Pinnacle on Friday.
