By Melanie Hoopes
Several Trabuco Canyon residents braved rain early Saturday January 26th to participate in a biennial survey of the Orange County homeless.
The roughly 700 volunteers came from several Orange County charities and attended detailed training in preparation for the homeless count. OC Partnerships, an organization which coordinates efforts among the private and government groups who serve the homeless, spearheaded the effort, which also included 220 formerly homeless guides who have first-hand knowledge of the county’s homeless situation.
The volunteers reported at 4 a.m, were divided into groups and assigned a guide and an area. Surveys forms and maps were distributed, along with gift cards and bus passes to offer the homeless for helping with the survey.
Alicia Carnesi of Trabuco Canyon wasn’t deterred by the early hour or the rain. “It’s amazing that several of the people I surveyed have been out on the streets for more than three years,” she said. “Laguna Beach does a better job than other Orange County cities in caring for its homeless,” said guide Maurice Lopez. “They open the churches when it rains, that’s why we didn’t find too many today.”
Many volunteers were disappointed that they weren’t able to survey more homeless—and offer them the gifts—but the information they gathered is still useful.
“Every homeless person I surveyed was either addicted to drugs or alcohol, or suffered from mental illness,” said Melanie Hoopes of Trabuco Canyon. “Clearly it’s not just shelters that they need.”
Every other January, communities across the country are required to take a point-in-time census of their sheltered and unsheltered homeless population in order to receive federal funding for services. In 2011, Orange County received $16.2 million in SuperNOFA Continuum of Care funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. OC Partnerships currently estimates there are 18,300 homeless in Orange County.
The 2011 survey was criticized for not having enough volunteers, but this year the OC Partnership reached out to local churches, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which provided enough volunteers that a separate training session was set up for them. This year more than four times more volunteers were trained than in 2011. The results of the survey will be available in May.
http://getconnected.unitedwayoc.org/volunteer/agency/need/?need_id=352
Karen Lake
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Media Director
Santa Margarita Stake
www.mormons.org
