The annual Thurston County Homeless Census, originally scheduled for Thursday, has been delayed until Sunday because of last week’s winter storm.
Many volunteers lacked power, and organizers couldn’t reach them, said Anna Schlecht, housing manager for the City of Olympia and coordinator of the census.
“As of Thursday, we’re still not able to make phone contact with the people we work with in Yelm to do the census,” Schlecht said Wednesday.
Volunteers still are sought for the census, which will begin after a brief training at noon Sunday at Olympia City Hall, 601 Fourth Ave. E. It will take place from midday Sunday until midday Monday.
Federal regulations require that the census be held before the end of January, Schlecht said.
Another big change this year is volunteers won’t go into the woods to count the homeless in their camps because of dangerous conditions that created by the storm, which felled numerous tree limbs across the county.
“Instead we’re going to be relying on a number of homeless-outreach events that feature meals, distribution of resources and service referrals,” Schlecht said.
The series of meals is intended to attract homeless people to a place where they can be counted.
Schlecht said she was concerned that not as many homeless people will be counted but added that many homeless residents have emerged from the woods as a result of the storm.
This is the seventh year for the census, a function of Thurston County government. The results of the tally, to be released later this year, will help social-service providers determine local needs and qualify for state and federal grants.
Last year’s census counted 566 homeless people in the county, down from 976 in 2010. But the count is an inexact science; many of homeless residents are hidden from view in the woods, and volunteers can’t find them all. Last year, volunteers found many empty or abandoned camps, perhaps the result of police sweeps that cleared homeless residents from along the Olympia Woodland Trail and Grass Lake Refuge.
A more reliable number comes from a separate census of homeless children in Thurston County public schools. That count found 1,164 homeless students in 2011, down from 1,269 in 2010.
But the student count uses different methodology, and the number of homeless students counted tends to be higher than in the homeless census because it’s easier to measure children who regularly attend school.
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
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