Survey to give state better look at homeless
2nd stage focuses on places offering shelter, services
Daniel J. Chacon, Rocky Mountain News
Published January 30, 2007 at midnight
Dozens of volunteers fanned out over the Front Range and other populous counties Monday night to conduct the second phase of a statewide survey of the homeless.
The count, which continues today elsewhere in Colorado, is a follow-up to a point-in-time survey in August that found 11,890 homeless people living in the state.
"The summertime (survey) was very focused on getting out to where people go, in the national parkland, along the rivers," said Justin Marks, a policy analyst for the Colorado Division of Housing.
"In the winter, just because of the weather dynamic, you can concentrate more on the places that offer emergency shelter and" other services to the homeless, he said.
In addition to emergency shelters, volunteers surveyed the homeless at soup kitchens and motels on West Colfax Avenue, among other locations. The statewide survey is the first in 17 years.
Twenty-six of the state's 64 counties were surveyed Monday, and agencies in less populated counties that provide services to the homeless will be contacted by phone today, Marks said. The results of the survey, a one-day snapshot of the homeless, will be available in April or May, he said.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires the state to conduct such a survey to receive federal funds to fight homelessness, Marks said.
But service providers say the survey gives them a better understand the population they are trying to help.
"We want to find out not only how many (people) are homeless but more importantly who is homeless and why," said Stacy Haskell, a spokeswoman for Mile High United Way, which mobilized the volunteers.
"The reason we want to find this out is if there are gaps in services in the community, we want to fill those gaps and we want to make sure we have preventative services in place," she said.
chacond@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5099
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