Count finds 1,408 homeless in Stanislaus

An annual count of the homeless in Stanislaus County turned up 1,408 men, women and children living in shelters, cars, parks, on the streets and elsewhere.

Volunteers conducted the count over two days in late January on behalf of the Stanislaus Housing & Support Services Collaborative, which consists of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, faith-based groups and others that provide housing and services for the homeless. The collaborative released the results of its count last week.

This year’s count comes as there is renewed interest in addressing homelessness in Modesto and elsewhere in the county. For instance, the Downtown Modesto Partnership is working on a proposal to address panhandling downtown, and Stanislaus County has its Focus on Prevention initiative that aims to get at the root causes of homelessness and other vexing social issues.

Similar homeless counts conducted in Stanislaus County since 2005 have tallied 1,156 to 1,800 homeless people.

The count was part of a nationwide effort. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires groups known as continuums of care – such as the Stanislaus Collaborative – to conduct the counts in late January as part of applying for some of its homeless funding.

The tallies are called Point in Time counts and provide a snapshot of homelessness in a community. They should not be considered definitive. Stanislaus Collaborative President Aaron Farnon said HUD requires the counts every two years, but many continuums, including the Stanislaus Collaborative, now do them annually.

The volunteers interviewed the homeless and collected 892 questionnaires. Some of the results:

▪ Volunteers counted 86 children; 44 of the questionnaire respondents said they were at least 60 years old. The oldest was 75.

▪ The vast majority who answered the questionnaire said they had been living in Stanislaus County before becoming homeless. For instance, of the 741 responses to this question, 334 respondents said they had been living in Modesto. This cuts against a common perception that the homeless come here from outside the area because of the many services offered to them.

▪ Ninety-nine – or 11 percent – of the 892 respondents said they had served in the military.

▪ Forty-two percent said they have a psychiatric or emotional condition, such as depression or schizophrenia; nearly 35 percent said they have a physical disability; about 32 percent said they drink alcohol; and nearly 26 percent said they use illegal drugs.

The information from the count helps those who work with the homeless fine-tune their efforts. Several homeless people who were gathered Tuesday afternoon at the city park in front of the Ralston Tower senior housing complex and at Kewin Park said a few basics would make a huge difference in their lives.

They said they need more long-term shelter beds and a place where they can store their belongings in a locker, take a shower and wash their clothes.

“No one is going to hire you if you show up with a backpack,” said 42-year-old Erik Lee, who said he has been homeless in Modesto on and off for 15 years.

He said he most recently worked in a bagel shop in San Francisco after graduating from a Salvation Army alcohol and drug rehab center there. Lee said he could not make ends meet on $11 an hour, even with roommates, so he quit after two months and returned to Modesto.

This year’s questionnaire included two questions requested by the county for its Focus on Prevention initiative. One asked the homeless whether they had been in foster care, and the other asked the composition of the family in which they were raised. More than 12 percent of respondents said they had been in foster care, and 51 percent said they were raised in a two-parent family; slightly more than 29 percent said they were raised by a single mother, and more than 3 percent said they were raised by a single father.

County CEO Stan Risen said the questions are part of the fact-gathering process for the initiative.

He said while “there are a lot of good people doing good things” regarding the homeless, “we are just not seeing improvements in the homeless challenges we are facing.” He said the initiative will address that.

This story was originally published April 21, 2015 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Count finds 1,408 homeless in Stanislaus."