Counting the homeless to try and help

During the next week, communities across Iowa will try to get an exact count of the number of homeless people living in their city.  It's easy to get a good estimate by just counting the people in shelters.

But, Joe Zito, a homeless advocate with the Abbe Center for Mental Health in Cedar Rapids said they have to get an exact number, and that means counting the people who sleep outside too.

“Most people who are sleeping outside don't want anyone to know," Zito said.

Each year counties get federal money to help the homeless.  A requirement to get that money, says case workers, is to physically count each person who doesn't have a home.

“We find six to 10 a night that we lay eyes on, then we usually hear about two to three more by we can't verify those,” said Zito.

The county in Linn county happened on Tuesday night.  Zito and his crew had about 20 sites to check in Cedar Rapids.  An old standby is the Fourth Avenue Parkade.

“Last year there was a homeless gentleman in his 70's living in this stairwell,” said Zito.

On Tuesday night, the stairwell was empty.  But the crew found nine people sleeping outside Tuesday night in Linn County.  Four in Cedar Rapids and five in the rest of the county.

“Generally studies have shown if someone sleeps outside for any length of time, they have more severe problems, so we have to go find where they are at and build relationships with them,” said Zito.

But don't let those problems fool you.  Some of the camps are so well hidden, you wouldn't notice them, and the advocates said they've seen it first-hand.

“Human beings are smart animals, and they find a way to survive and they're excellent at what they do,” said Neal Currell, Linn Community Care.

A recent state survey said the percentage of homeless in Cedar Rapids jumped 37 percent in 2009.  And yet, these advocates said the number of people on the streets remains low.

“When people hear homeless, they think of someone sleeping on a park bench.  They don't realize the majority of people who are homeless at one time are in emergency or transitional shelters.  That speaks to how good a job we do at providing those beds,” said Zito.

However, Zito said finding just one person on the streets shows they have a never-ending job.