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Del Norte County will take its annual snapshot of homelessness in the community on Wednesday.

In addition to conducting the Point-in-Time Count at the county’s recreation department, staff with the Department of Health and Human Services and other community partners will reach those who are homeless at local service providers, on the street and in camps, Housing Services Manager Roy Jackson said Wednesday.

Since the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has allowed canvassing to resume this year, Jackson said he hopes to get a more accurate count homelessness in Del Norte County. But COVID still has DHHS staff spread thin, he said.

“It’s a pretty big task,” Jackson said. “We’re part of a seven-county continuum and they’re experiencing the same thing. It’s really hard to get volunteers and we have a lot of shortage in staff. Most counties are having a little bit of a COVID uptick right now and a lot of counties have lost staff too.”

Required by HUD, the Point-in-Time count is a survey of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. Those experiencing homelessness could be people housed in an emergency shelter, transitional housing or who are unsheltered.

According to the NorCal Continuum of Care’s 2021 Point-in-Time report, shelters are more heavily utilized during January, which provides a more accurate count.

In Del Norte County, the survey is used to help DHHS staff determine what services and resources those experiencing homeless need, Jackson said.

Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HUD exempted counties in the NorCal Continuum of Care, including Del Norte County, from doing outreach to the unsheltered population. As a result, Del Norte County only counted those who visited the Veterans Memorial Hall on Jan. 25.

Del Norte DHHS workers reported a total of 110 sheltered homeless individuals in the county last year, according to the NorCal Continuum of Care’s report.

Of those 110 individuals, three indicated they were chronically homeless, five were veterans and seven were domestic violence survivors. Twenty-one were under the age of 18.

This year, Del Norte’s Point-in-Time Count will be held at the Recreation Center, about two blocks down H Street from the Veterans Memorial Hall. Jackson said staff will be available to steer people to the right location on Wednesday.

Surveys will also be conducted for about seven days following Wednesday. According to Jackson, enumerators will visit Open Door Clinic, Pacific Pantry and at Rural Human Services. Volunteers with Del Norte Mission Possible will conduct outreach in local homeless encampments, Jackson said.

“They’re seeing a lot of folks out in the encampments,” he said. “They feel like the number’s a lot higher than what’s been previously reported and surveyed. We’re hoping to get more accurate numbers this year.”

The main event will be held from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Recreation Hall, 1005 H Street in Crescent City.

Jackson said DHHS is still accepting donations for the share table. Accepted items include knit caps, coats, gloves, clothing, tents, tarps, yoga mats, blankets and sleeping bags, pillows, backpacks or sturdy shopping bags, dried pet food and collars and leashes.

Monetary donations or perishable items will not be accepted.
For more information, call Jackson at (707) 464-7224, extension 2652.

Documents:

• 2021 NorCal Point-in-Time Report

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