Homeless count reveals 'a humanitarian crisis'
More than 1,400 volunteers canvased San Diego County on the coldest morning of the year Thursday to count and speak with homeless people.Families were found sleeping in cars in the South Bay, where some ran their engines throughout the night to stay warm as temperatures dropped into the 30s.
Whitburn described seeing people in their 70s living on sidewalks and others in tattered clothes shivering in the cold morning. He noted that information collected from surveys will help inform civic leaders of steps needed to address the problem. In North County, a deployment site at the El Corazon Senior Center in Oceanside was used by about 50 volunteers, with more than half participating for the first time.
The gift cards can be a way of luring people out of tents after waking them up or coaxing them to stay for the survey. One of her team members, Paul Marchewka, said he volunteered after hearing about the opportunity at church. “Don’t wake people up,” said police Sgt. Nate Brazelton, during his briefing to the volunteers at their 4 a.m. start. “Use common sense. Don’t push them if they don’t want to talk to you.”
“They saved my life,” she said, adding that she now is driven to help others learn about the program. Outside the Neil Good Day Center, a drop-in facility for homeless people in downtown San Diego, Justin Wien and Louis Medina said they spent the night on 17th Street just outside the center and were not approached by a survey team.Survey teams in fact did include the street, but sometimes people don’t respond because they are asleep or just decline to answer. Volunteers still count them as observed and make a best guess at their age and ethnicity.
The volunteers returned to their vehicle and added the woman to the count. Soon after they heard a knock on the window. It was the woman, saying she would pay a visit to SBCS, a Chula Vista-based nonprofit that offers various community services, including for homelessness.“My hope is that we were kind enough to encourage her to stop by and offer her services,” said Pam Wright, clinical director for SBCS, who was part of the group.
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