LAKE COUNTY >> Data collected from Point In Time Count (PIT) surveys late last month indicated an uptick of homeless individuals and families residing in Lake County from 401 in last year’s count to 621. More alarming to those analyzing numbers, one in six is a child.
The total county count, which took place on January 23 in central areas of Lake, revealed that there are currently 504 adults and 108 children who are homeless. When breaking down living spaces, most homeless adults, 297, and minors, 56, lived on the streets, while only 26 adults and 12 children lived in shelters.
Data showed that Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, and Lower Lake, collectively, had the highest number of vulnerable citizens — 319 total.
As the second highest, Lakeport, totaled 76 individuals, with 41 percent children. Middletown followed with a count of 51, zero reported to live in shelters. Lucerne and Nice/Upper Lake both showed a total of 47, with a homeless count of minors 10-percent higher in Lucerne than in the Upper Lake/Nice area.
The PIT census revealed that 33 adults and nine children were “couch surfing,” but the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) does not count individuals and families who stay at someone’s home, live in a vehicle, or “double-up” in units built for a single household.
This year the count was “much more accurate,” said Megan Morgan, with the Sutter Lakeside Community Clinic and who also aided in the PIT Count. A homeless student count was among the areas she spoke about attaining definite numbers. A total of 22 adults and 33 minors were counted as students.
One Clearlake person who took the survey said, “I feel unsafe in campus as a female. I sleep where I’m able.”
The rise in these numbers did not come as a surprise to volunteers, considering the Sulphur Fire and an ongoing lack of housing for fire victims of previous years, Morgan said.
She explained:
“The Sulphur Fire definitely had a hand in these numbers increasing…One family that I interviewed had been victims of the Clayton Fire and had only moved into a home approximately one month before the Sulphur Fire destroyed that home as well. Unfortunately, it was not uncommon that when the question ‘How long have you been homeless this time?’ the answer often was, ‘Well, when was the Sulphur/Clayton Fire?’
She added that after the Rocky Fire there was a significant drop in available housing and when homes did become available many could not afford them. After the Clayton and Sulphur blazes, the shortage of homes “was made even more apparent.”
The Lake County’s Continuum of Care for the Homeless (Coc) completed the count with the help of 107 volunteers and organizations like Sutter and Adventist Health, Redwood Community Services, North Coast Opportunities, and local congregations. Six survey sites were set up across the county where volunteers also handed out a bag of food and drinks, hygiene supplies, and other essential items.
Marilyn Wakefield, Chair of the PIT Count, said “We have offered bags of items helpful to those who are homeless (solar-powered radio, flashlight, cell charger, socks, hand wipes, snacks, etc.) as incentives to participate and have explained the reason for the annual PIT to those who are being counted.”
The purpose of a PIT count allows for Lake County and other counties across the nation to qualify for federal funding through HUD and other agencies.
Morgan said in previous years, the county’s maximum rapid rehousing funding eligibility amounted to $494,000. “Because of the 2017 count, the county is now eligible for $799,506 in 2018.
With an increase in 2018’s count, that amount could rise for 2019.
The team will continue to compile more information as they go through the surveys, particularly the percentage of people who self-identified as having mental health issues, Morgan explained.
Wakefield said, “The next step is for Lake County to develop long-term plans to provide transitional and permanent housing for our homeless neighbors.”
