Count of homeless altered this year
At least 1,000 people were in San Antonio shelters for the homeless Monday night — the night before volunteers were scheduled to conduct the annual, nationwide Point-in-time count of the homeless.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires local agencies that coordinate services for the homeless to conduct the count on a single night during the final 10 days of January.
In San Antonio and across the country, thousands of volunteers survey people living in shelters as well as those surviving “unsheltered” on the streets, in cars or in parks. The numbers help determine the need for federal funding, housing and other services.
This year’s Point-in-time census was held Tuesday night. But like most everything else, it’s been altered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Numbers were collected for people in emergency shelters and transitional housing. But volunteers and staff members of the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless did not traverse the city to count the unsheltered, as they normally do. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, that part of the Point-intime survey was scrubbed.
Instead, the alliance, known as SARAH, will estimate the unsheltered population using the Homeless Management Information System, a repository of data about the homeless and those at risk of losing their homes. About 46 social service organizations use the data system, including those that provide meals or clinical care to the homeless.
As of Monday night, the city’s major homeless shelters reported 1,043 people under their roofs. That included Haven for Hope’s campus and hotel rooms the nonprofit rents for homeless people. It also included the Salvation Army’s two shelters, Thrive Youth Center, Roy Mass Youth Alternatives and Samministries.
“The Point-in-time count’s a good starting point, and I think it’ll continue to be valuable, but we also want to look at what’s happening throughout the year,” said Katie Vela, executive
director of SARAH.
On Tuesday, SARAH held a Street Outreach Day of Appreciation in which the agency showed gratitude for outreach workers, raised money and collected donations of cash, clothes and other items.
People dropped off donations at a drive-by event at the San Fernando Homeless Resource Hub, run by the city's Department of Human Services.
SARAH took in 1,000 pairs of socks, 800 jackets, 500 masks or face shields and 500 blankets, Vela said. The organization also received toothpaste, gloves, feminine hygiene items, pants, soap, Tshirts, shoes, suitcases and purses.
SARAH will distribute the cash and items to homeless services providers, including Visitation House, Endeavors, Pay It Forward Ministries, Strong Foundation Ministries, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Samministries, Haven for Hope, Corazon Ministries, Salvation Army, Family Violence Prevention Services, Thrive
Youth Center and Daughters of Charity Services of San Antonio.
The money will support homeless prevention services,
outreach efforts, emergency shelter beds, ID recovery and mental health and substance use services. To donate, text
SAGIVES to 41444 or visit www.sanantonio.gov/humanservices/alernativegiving-campaign.
Through the end of this
week, SARAH will match monetary gifts up to $5,000.
Seven street outreach workers were recognized at Tuesday's event. One of them was Morgan Handley of Centro SA, the downtown services agency.
For Handley, it was a particularly difficult year. Most of her clients are chronically homeless. “They've been out here five, 10 years,” she said. “This is a lifestyle for them. This isn't an episode of homelessness. This is their life; this is it.”
The data
From the data SARAH has reviewed so far, “we're
not seeing an increase in homelessness yet,” Vela said.
She attributed that mainly to a nationwide eviction moratorium imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“So, in some cases, our shelters are operating at less capacity than they were this time last year,” Vela said.
“A lot of the funding that's come out is really targeting people who are behind on rent and may be becoming homeless for the first time, which is critical,” she said. “But we don't want to forget about our vulnerable populations.”
“I think that we'll see, overall, that the people who were already vulnerable before COVID, who were already unsheltered, continue to need more outreach contact and permanent supportive housing in order to move permanently from the streets,” Vela continued.
Last year's Point-intime count found a 2 percent increase in Bexar County's homeless population, compared with 2019. The total number of homeless people was 2,932.
Fifty-seven percent of them were in shelters. The rest were unsheltered.
Of those unsheltered, 566 stayed in Haven for Hope's courtyard, an outdoor sleeping facility.
Homeless adults over the age of 25 had been homeless for an average of 18 months, according to the 2020 count.
The count also revealed a 15 percent decrease in the number of chronically homeless individuals.