LAKE COUNTY — When it”s hot outside, most citizens around the lake are concentrating on keeping cool. The same is true for the undocumented numbers of homeless in the county.
Not frequently visible on the streets panhandling, there exists a subculture of local homeless who drift unseen from couch to couch, live in tool sheds, cars, camp out by creeks, seek shelter in homeless encampments, or even live out of a rowboat as one youth does.
There are no homeless shelters in the county other than a transitional shelter in Clear Lake run by the Lake Community Action Agency. The CAP (Community Action Partnership) agency has plans in the works to address the growing numbers of runaway and homeless youth in the county – a transitional safe house that would serve the “conservative” estimate of 1,000 children in Lake County who are homeless, not employed, in school, or not reported as runaways on any given day, according to LCAA, which is constantly seeking grants for homeless and youth programs from FEMA, The Salvation Army and other organizations.
The number of reported runaways has nearly doubled in the county between 2001 and 2006, reaching a number of 165 per year. In 2005-2006, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Student Assistance program identified 656 homeless school-aged children and youth, or 6.4 percent of the county”s total public school enrollment. These statistics do not count the numbers of “throwaways” (those youth whose families do not report them missing or who have thrown them out of the home). Nor do they count the numbers of children who are not enrolled in school.
“A majority of the people here who are homeless you just don”t see, and I think a part of that is people”s denial of the situation, if you were to go behind Safeway you”d see a lot of homeless,” said Marti Comioto of LCAA.
LCAA aid people “all the time” who come in looking for emergency food and seeking shelter, and are preparing two fundraisers at summer”s end to pay for the youth shelter.
In 2001, the U.S. government adopted a national goal of ending chronic homelessness in 10 years. The U.S. Congress requires that county or community entities receiving federal funds under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act conduct biennial counts of their homeless populations, including street persons.
Because of the lack of any central government funding, the state places pressure on city governments and nonprofits to tackle housing issues for the poor and homeless. However, no city is able to dedicate itself fully to building shelters, and a fear is prevalent that by leading the way, available resources will be overburdened. At the last Lakeport city council meeting, the Mayor of Lakeport Roy Parmentier voiced concern over a low-income housing project increasing crime and straining the local law enforcement.
But Lehne and Comioto say that the old adage “if you build it, they will come” is a myth, they say citizens who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless are usually longtime residents in the county. City and county officials, they say, should focus on preventative measures, such as affordable housing, building community gardens, and focusing policy decisions on mental health.
“I hope that people”s perception of what homeless means can change,” said Lehne, adding that for LCAA there is a 25 percent success rate for homeless individuals and families finding and staying in housing after a stay in the transitional shelter.
“The thing that is difficult about homelessness is that there are a wide array of issues that often go along with it-it”s not just having a place for them to stay, it”s all the other things to provide them with the services, case management, mental health issues, drug and alcohol problems, classes on parenting, and nutrition, which is a lot of the reasons that a lot of places don”t want to get involved,” said Lehne.
“It used to be that Lake County was a place where people thought they could live reasonably, but in the winter sometimes it is freezing, and right now, it”s probably 120 degrees out there, which means that the people who can manage to afford a place to live cannot afford to pay for utilities, because the energy costs are too expensive, and the people out on the street are simply trying to survive the money to help them is limited,” said Lehne.
Proceeds from an upcoming fundraiser in August presented by the Lake County Community Action Agency will help pay for an additional shelter in the county to serve homeless and runaway youth under the age of 18. The event, “Blue Heron Rally” is a 60 miles motorcycle run around Clear Lake, starting at 11 a.m. at Austin Park 14042 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake on Aug. 18.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.
