COUNT ME IN. A homeless resident living in a tent under the West Seattle Bridge may have been one of 2,759 King County residents who were sleeping outside the night of Jan. 30. This number was totaled by nearly 1,000 volunteers who fanned out during the 30th annual One Night Count. The count is federally mandated for a county
Beginning at 2:00 am Friday morning, Jan. 29, some 978 volunteers counted homeless people sleeping outdoors in King County through the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness (SKCCH). This was the 30th annual official 2010 One Night Count.
The count totaled 2,759, including children, adults, and seniors sleeping in doorways, cars, and camped under highway bridges and against buildings. Over 130 teams were organized through ten area headquarters. Counters returned to historical and new count areas in Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Woodinville, Shoreline, Kenmore Bothell, Seattle, White Center, Federal Way, Kent, Renton and Auburn. Also collected was information from select hospitals about emergency room usage, and from Metro night owl buses operating throughout the county.
The outdoor count was five percent higher in 2009.
While 47 homeless were counted in White Center, no specific data is released by neighborhood, so we do not know the West Seattle total.
“We don’t actually talk about specific locations where we count,” said Alison Eisinger, executive director, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness (SKCCH). In other words, how many were sleeping under which bridge.
“We protect the privacy and safety of those counted,” she said. “We do not people to feel there is a threat, harassment, or that there will be a homeless sweep as a result of being counted.”
Eisinger said the figures are not in yet on the number of homeless living in shelters, but estimates there are 5,800 based on the capacity of shelter beds available in King County.
The One Night Count is a federal requirement under the McKinney-Vento Act with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, she said. The count helps establish how federal dollars for homeless are spent in a given county. She said the count brings in $24 million annually.
“Our strong community involvement of volunteers helps us do a good job,” Eisinger said. “The Coalition on Homelessness always seeks to highlight and address two things, the need to be safe and survive today and tonight, and to access to long term services. This count is an annual reality check.”
For more results and information visit: www.homelessinfo.org/one_night_count
