Homeless head count

Amid the aromas of hot chili and fresh-baked cornbread, Asa Sizemore stepped into the basement of the outreach center at Coeur d’Alene’s St. Thomas Catholic Church.

Already, at least two dozen people were waiting in line, eager for a free meal and a place away from the freezing fog earlier this week. Within half an hour, more than 50 – middle-aged men, young women, a couple of children – had gathered for dinner and dessert.

As folks took their plates and settled at the long cafeteria tables, Sizemore scanned the crowd. In one hand, he held a sheaf of papers, a stack of surveys for the count of homeless people conducted twice a year by the local chapter of St. Vincent de Paul.

A year ago, about 200 people completed the survey that gives social workers and government officials an idea of the state of homelessness in North Idaho. In June, the survey counted about 275 people who said they were homeless.

That was a 37 percent increase in six months, but organizers will have to wait for annual comparisons to determine whether the fluctuations are seasonal or due to other factors.

A similar effort was conducted Thursday in Spokane. For the first time, Washington state has mandated a one-day count of the city’s homeless, previously estimated at more than 7,000.

For Idaho advocates like Sizemore, there’s no doubt the numbers of homeless people here and in the region are growing.

“It’s a little bit more each time,” said Sizemore. “Not a big difference, but a little bit more.”

Although the official night of the count was Monday, a half-dozen staff members spent most of this week trying to contact more homeless people to get a more accurate sampling.

Sizemore, a 28-year-old in spiked hair and jeans, recognized many of the people gathered for Tuesday’s dinner. Many already had received their $5 McDonald’s restaurant vouchers, rewards for being included in the survey compiled by the Idaho Housing and Financial Association.

One willing participant was a bearded artist who gave his name as Cody Fisher. Fisher, 61, said he moved to Coeur d’Alene from Cottage Grove, Ore., seven months ago. On Monday, Fisher said he stayed in a house with friends.

“I’m not on the streets or nothing,” he said. “I’m not sleeping on your beach. I’m not out on your lake in an inner tube.”

Fisher’s biggest problem wasn’t shelter. Somewhere between Oregon and Idaho, he’d lost his identification. Sizemore promised to contact motor vehicle department officials there to help Fisher get new ID.

Fisher’s access to shelter stood in sharp contrast to the homeless people surveyed this week by Matt Hutchinson, who coordinates transitional housing for St. Vincent de Paul. On Monday, Hutchinson traveled past Sandpoint, almost to the Canadian border, to find four people camped in the snow at a site locals call “bum jungle.”

The campers were approachable, and they agreed to fill out the survey, Hutchinson said. Part of the goal of the survey is to reach people who don’t show up at soup kitchens and social service centers. That requires locating the homeless, wherever they live.

“It’s a little nerve-racking,” Hutchinson said. “You’re stepping into an unknown zone, an unknown territory.”

Hutchinson said on a previous count he was alarmed by a homeless man who became very agitated.

“It got a little bit freaky,” said Hutchinson, 30. “He came at me in a very threatening manner. Not that he was going to hit me or kill me, but just, ‘Get out of my space.’ “

Tracking accurately the region’s homeless is vital, said Lynn Peterson, director of St. Vincent de Paul. It gives funders, such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an idea of the extent of the problem. Peterson’s program recently received nearly $230,000, part of more than $2 million distributed to the IHFA in Idaho and more than $1.3 billion nationwide for transitional housing, rent vouchers, job training and other support services.

It’s just a small part of the agency’s $2.5 million in annual revenue, which is offset by $2.6 million in expenses for food and shelter, child care and other services, according to federal tax records.

Despite a week spent canvassing campgrounds, abandoned houses and meal sites, surveyors tracking the homeless might not reach everybody, Peterson acknowledged. “I think we miss a lot of people,” she said. “I think the final count is under what it really is, but how do you know?”

Results from this week’s homelessness survey will be available this spring.