HOMELESS COUNT OPENS IN REGION

The annual census can connect people with housing and services

Volunteers, public employees, faith groups and nonprofits fanned out across San Bernardino County on Thursday morning, taking part in the annual point-in-time count of homeless residents.

In addition to the basic step of locating and counting the number of county residents living without permanent shelter — data required to get U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding to combat homelessness — those who conduct the survey connect homeless residents with services and shelters as they go.

And that's just what happened with some homeless residents on Thursday, according to Office of Homeless Services Director Marcus Dillard.

“There's a possibility that we'll go from the street into a unit in one day,” he said.

Riverside County does its count of unsheltered residents every two years, as allowed by federal law. This year, the county will survey homeless people in shelters rather than those living on the streets. Los Angeles County launched its census of its homeless population on Wednesday.

Last year, San Bernardino County won a national award for how it prepares

its volunteers for the annual canvass of its residents without permanent shelter.

But there's more work to be done to reduce homelessness.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, homelessness jumped 12% nationwide

in 2023. In San Bernardino County, the number of homeless residents counted by volunteers went up more than twice that, with the number of homeless residents counted jumping 26% year over year in 2023. It went up 12% in Riverside County and 9% in Los Angeles

PHOTOS BY WILL LESTER — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Miriam Mendez of Fontana receives a hygiene kit from Mark Nuaimi with Citylink, a homeless service, during the 2024 homeless point-in-time count at Miller Park in Fontana on Thursday morning. Mendez said she has been homeless for a year.

San Bernardino County 2nd District Supervisor Jesse Armendarez hands a woman a blanket during the 2024homeless point-in-time count.