SAN DIEGO — The signs of our homelessness crisis in San Diego are everywhere, and it looks to be worsening. On Thursday, the Point In Time count of the unsheltered population will help us understand how big the problem is.
More than 1,500 volunteers moved around the county to collect information and interview people experiencing homelessness.
The data gathered will determine how much funding San Diego will get from the federal government.
"The thing is that things are not getting better, so we thought we could use some divine intervention," said Monica Ball, the Board President of Uplift San Diego.
Ball and other San Diegans gathered in prayer downtown Wednesday on the eve of this year's Point In Time Count.
"One of the most accurate indicators of a person becoming homeless is how many times they have been, so that's why we need to prevent this, especially for the children and their families," Ball said.
Ball said volunteers do their best but cannot see everyone.
"There's a lot of hidden homelessness that happens where people are partnering up, shared housing, couch surfing, families sharing two or three in an apartment," she said.
Last year, volunteers counted 8,427 individuals experiencing homelessness. That’s up ten percent from 2020. Homeless advocate Michael McConnell believes there could be twice as many unsheltered people.
"It's a pretty drastic undercount," he said.
The count misses people who are in the hospital or might be living in their cars. He said finding a more accurate way to do the count is a challenge, but one thing remains clear.
"All of these folks are going to go out and count thousands of folks on our streets, and at the end of the day, those thousands of folks are still going to be there homeless it doesn't solve anyone's homelessness just checks a box for federal funding," he said.
Volunteers will be spread across 36 sites. They plan to begin the count at 4 a.m. and wrap up around 8 a.m.
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