One Night Count reveals dramatic increase in Auburn homeless
Published 11:54 am Thursday, February 12, 2009
A recent count of the homeless in Auburn revealed a disturbing trend: dramatically more people are living on the streets.
The One Night Count, conducted by staff and volunteers from several agencies, was conducted in the early morning hours of Jan. 30. The teams counted 60 persons sleeping in cars, under roadways and other makeshift structures, an increase of 30 percent from 2008.
“This is always a very humbling experience to see just how many of our citizens are actually sleeping out in the cold,” said Faith Richie, CEO of Valley Cities Counseling & Consultation, which helped lead the count. “We are reminded of how critically important are the efforts of the Committee to End Homelessness (in King County) and the Ten-Year Plan.”
The plan offers a blueprint on how the region will tackle the problem and create solutions. The plan was developed by a coalition of more than 30 housing and service providers, faith organizations, businesses, county and city governments, homeless people and homeless advocates.
The Ten-Year Plan and the establishment of the committee were fully launched in 2005.
Valley Cities staff and other community volunteers from the Auburn Food Bank, Auburn Youth Resources, Department of Social & Health Services, City of Auburn, and Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness (SKCCH) performed the count.
The SKCCH-sponsored tally also revealed that the total homeless counted in South King County almost doubled while the numbers in Seattle stayed pretty much the same.
“It was a big jump,” said Jason Johnson, of City of Kent Human Services. “I think we knew that this year would be higher, but this is a lot higher than anyone would have ever expected.”
The initial total of 2009 unsheltered homeless in selected areas of King County was 2,827. In South King County as a whole, there was a 68-percent increase in the number of homeless.
The overnight total did not include those in shelters or transitional housing. Official expected that number to be approximately 6,000.
The count does not cover the entire county, focusing on densely populated areas, nor does it include people doubled up with family or friends as they are not considered homeless under federal guidelines.
In response to the growing problem, the committee has added more than 1,500 units of affordable housing in the past four years – but much more is needed.
The Valley Cities Landing project is scheduled to break ground in the spring and will house 24 homeless adults with 12 units dedicated to housing homeless veterans. The project is a housing-with-services project and will include mental health and substance abuse treatment.
Valley Cities is a community behavioral health center serving low-income individuals, families and veterans. Established by the people of Auburn in 1965, today it operates comprehensive outpatient clinics in Auburn, Federal Way, Kent and Renton.
For more information on the count, go to www.homelessinfo.org. For more information about Valley Cities, call 253-939-4055 or visit www.valleycities.org.
