Sonoma County homeless counted

<p>A count of Sonoma County’s homeless population is under way today, with many of those to be counted amassing at 12 mealtime events. Volunteers are also fanning out across the county through midnight tonight to make sure all those without shelter get counted.</p><p>The events started with an early morning breakfast in Healdsburg, where many of the homeless are farm workers and other working poor who need to get going for the day, coordinator Georgia Berland said.</p><p>The largest will be in downtown Santa Rosa, where 700 or 800 people are expected at the Unitarian Universalist church, said Berland, executive officer for the Sonoma County Task Force for the Homeless.</p><p>Berland said she hopes to have the total count and an analysis of the numbers reported by late March.</p><p>The goal is to account for anyone who is homeless during the 24 hours between 12:01 a.m. today and midnight tonight, part of a biennial census to comply with federal requirements outlined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.</p><p>The count is required every two years if the county wants to compete for federal grants that help fund services and programs for the homeless.</p><p>In recent years, the county has received more than $2 million in such grants.</p><p>The last survey in January 2005 counted 2,232 homeless people in Sonoma County, though only 1,737 met the narrow federal definition of “literally homeless” - sleeping outside, in a homeless shelter, or in a place not fit for human habitation.</p><p>The remainder included people who were couch-surfing or crashing on friends and relatives’ floors.</p><p>About 400 volunteers were expected to be involved in this year’s census, which was preceded by a weeklong outreach effort to contact homeless around the county and encourage them to come out and be counted.</p><p>As incentives, the events all include a hot meal and gifts of common necessities like blankets and toiletries. Some also will offer hot showers, haircuts, veterinary exams for pets, and the like.</p><p>Volunteers also will be going out to encampments tonight to find those who might not have chosen to attend one of the public survey events.</p><p>“In some case we’re trying to provide transportation. We have two vans available. But there are some people who just don’t like large groups of people. For various reasons they just don’t want to come out.”</p>