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County homelessness rate increases, says advocacy group
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
| Article published on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 |
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PINELLAS COUNTY – The Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless said more than 4,700 men, women and children are living on the streets, a 3 percent increase over last year, prompting some officials to seek new funding to end the problem within a decade.
The survey counts homeless people without shelter, those living in emergency havens, in transitional and other temporary housing.
More than 18 percent of those categorized as homeless actually are children. Another 21 percent are women.
Sarah Snyder, coalition executive director, said this year’s count was difficult since it was taken during January’s inclement weather.
“The rain made it harder to find people on the streets because they were hidden under any cover they could find,” Snyder said.
Volunteers sought homeless people at locations where they often are seen.
Some former homeless people helping with the survey went to soup kitchens, shelters, day labor offices and transient motels.
Snyder said about 368 people each week lose their homes. She said the increase in homelessness is not surprising.
“We know that more individuals, especially families, are losing their homes because they no longer can afford to live where they are,” Snyder said.
There are not enough emergency shelters to go around and it is difficult to find transitional housing due to high rents.
Snyder said the recently-approved Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness addresses what needs to be done to reduce the number of people on the streets.
Councilman Rick Butler, a member of the county group that created the 10-year plan, said one of the goals is to seek funding to enable communities to implement programs at the local level.
“There are many funding resources in Pinellas County that include cities, the private sector and foundations,” Butler said. “That is in addition to a mix of federal and state funding for homeless programs.”
Butler said about $20 million is spent annually for local, state and federal programs to provide shelter and other services for the homeless.
Foundations and private donors spend an additional $4 million.
“Those figures do not include costs for emergency health care and housing in local and county jails,” Butler said.
Homeless people spend an average of four days more in hospitals than others, or $2,414 per hospitalization. Each homeless inmate in county jails costs taxpayers $14,480 annually and up to $20,000 for those in state and federal prisons.
Butler said many agencies are stretched to the limit as they struggle to meet growing demands.
“Pinellas County cannot afford to keep investing millions of dollars for its current approach to the problem,” Butler said.
Butler believes money can be used more wisely for programs that prevent homelessness rather than sheltering people.
“It makes more sense to nip a problem in the bud,” Butler said. “We need to use our current resources more effectively.”
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Article published on Wednesday, March 29, 2006
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