Homeless count wraps up in Travis

AUSTIN (KXAN) - More than 150 volunteers combed Travis County trying to count the number of people who call the streets home Sunday afternoon.

Sixty teams each consisting of three volunteers divided the county and looked not only behind businesses and in wooded areas, but also in area shelters.

A map of the area canvassed can be seen by clicking this link .

Last year, the count was more than 2,300, up from three hundred in 2010.

CHANGING FACE OF HOMELESS

This year, Zach Long, 27, is being counted for the first time.  Long told KXAN he lost his job as a gas station clerk 14 month ago in Toledo, Ohio.  Unable to bear sleeping on benches in the cold weather, he moved to Austin.

"Doesn't seem like someone like me, out of prison, GED, can really get too good a job to easily," said Long.

Volunteer Courtney Clark said Long's story is common and shows a new trend among the homeless.

"What we are seeing is a lot of individuals who have lost their jobs," said Clark.  "They are homeless because of economic reasons."

Clark told KXAN only a handful of the homeless people she encountered Sunday are on the streets because they are mentally ill, using drugs or veterans. 

"No," responded Long when asked by Clark if he ever served in the U.S. military.

During Clark's canvass of Austin, most of the homeless people she found were in parks or at Occupy Austin camp at City Hall.

"About 10 to 12 individuals at Occupy Austin were not homeless. The rest were homeless," Clark said.

Although Clark can only speculate why homeless people are among occupiers, she believes it is because police guard the area and free food is available.

SURVEY GUIDELINES

The count, which is spearheaded by the Ending Community Homeless Coalition, or ECHO, is subjective.

Sampling is random and one out of every 10 people are interviewed.

"You are not to assume that every person you see on the street that looks a little rough or messy is homeless," explained Ann Howard, executive director of ECHO.  "The goal would be to ask them."

All volunteers must undergo a training course before they pound any pavement .  Many did this Sunday between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and UT's School of Social Work off San Jacinto Blvd.

When deciding to count an individual as homeless, volunteers are to consider the following factors:  

• The person is walking or standing “with no purpose” (loitering)  
• The person is panhandling (with or without indicators such as cup or sign)
• The person is carrying bags, backpacks, garbage, bags, suitcases, blankets, or bedrolls
• The person is carrying a shopping cart containing personal belongings
• The person is recycling, especially large numbers of items
• The person is sleeping on the street
• The person is inside a vehicle with windows covered
• The person is in a tent or a makeshift lean-to
• The person is drunk or has passed-out on a sidewalk

Do not automatically count:

• People engaged in illegal activities
• People leaving bars or other establishments
• People waiting for busses

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

These annual counts are important because it determines how the city receives funding, especially H.U.D funding.

"We have to do a count and we have to turn in the numbers, if they are up or down a little bit, we can explain what our day or night looked like, but we have to do it to keep our HUD funding," Howard said.

Howard told KXAN, in 2011, the county received $5 million in H.U.D. funding to help homeless people get on their feet and off the streets.

The data collected Sunday will then be vetted in about seven days.  The results from the survey should be out mid-February.

VOLUNTEER SAFETY

Safety of volunteers is also taken very seriously.  Volunteers must travel in groups of three and this year, they are wearing jingle bells on their person to announce their presence.

"Not everybody is comfortable hollering out and so we want to give the folks we are going to surprise or come upon, the opportunity to know we are coming.  We also thought it was a friendly way," Howard added.

Volunteers were told not to take an unnecessary chances, take things personally, take photos or cell phone footage of homeless individuals and to not run if a dog chases them.

"We are well trained.  And, think about it, if I were to go to your house, I would knock. Wearing a bell tells them we are coming," Clark explained.