This week I really enjoyed our second presentation/conference. It was amazing to hear how they analyze the homeless. To do that they said that you need to know the definition of homeless. In order to do the counts you have to not only check the streets because not everybody gets the opportunity to stay in a shelter for the night but you also check the different care systems and organizational funded shelters. The key components to the counts are timing and well trained volunteers with a guide team. The problem that was being faced with the homeless counts was the volunteers were not meeting expectations. This means that they did not know the area as well as they said they did, they were slaking off, or simply did not show up. The volunteers need to know the area being counted extremely well because they have to check areas that most do not go to. This could be different fields, vacant lots, and parking lots.
I also was very surprised about the counts in Seattle. It it now considered to have the 3rd highest homeless population. they have 11 thousand homeless and about 6 thousand of them are unsheltered. This is a huge amount that the city needs to work on.
The statistics about Seattle’s homeless community surprised me as well, especially since the weather conditions are not as stable and warm as California. Seattle has the largest percentage of people living in vehicles, which is considered to be a “luxury” to the typical street-living homeless individual. But when taking into account the weather conditions in Washington the streets are not, in any way, a possibility. There are many safety issues with being homeless already, and living in snow/rain nearly everyday without proper attire can dramatically increase the safety issues with these communities.