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County Homeless Census Under Way

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

Volunteers such as Tampa City Councilwoman Mary Mulhern began searching for and talking to homeless people at 4 a.m. today.

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By SHERRI ACKERMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 26, 2009

TAMPA - About 180 volunteers are searching behind Wal-Marts, staking out labor pools, circling bus stations and scouring city streets today to count homeless people.

It's part of the biennial census conducted by the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County to identify gaps in services and garner dollars from local, state and federal authorities.

Volunteers started work at 4 a.m., asking people carrying backpacks and blankets, pushing shopping carts stuffed with bedrolls and manning benches whether they were homeless. The workers were dressed in bright yellow T-shirts bearing pictures of homeless people flanked by the words "Unexpected Faces, Unexpected Places."

Those answering yes are given a survey that will help organizers develop demographics about the county's homeless population, including gender and age, and other information that determines where help is needed.

The last count in 2007 had some surprising results. Of the 9,532 homeless people polled, the majority weren't from other parts of the country as typically assumed. Most (91 percent) had been living and working in Tampa for years before they became homeless, said Rayme Nuckles, the coalition's executive director.

They had lost jobs or suffered health problems that left them without an income, he said. Only 9 percent came from elsewhere, the survey showed.

Long before the local economy tanked, Hillsborough County and the state were witnessing a disturbing new trend in homelessness: more families and children. The 2007 survey saw an increase in the number of homeless women, up 11 percent from 26 percent in 2005.

There were 1,574 homeless children reported by school officials, a 5 percent increase from 2005. The new survey figures won't be available until mid-April.

It's too early to tell what increases we'll see caused by the current economic climate, Nuckles said. But if calls for help to the coalition's office are any measure – 50 to 100 a day – those numbers will be higher.

"People are needing help," he said.

Like 65-year-old Rodney Leamy, a former retail salesman who says he has been homeless for more than four years. He moved here from Connecticut to live with a daughter. When that turned sour, he moved to the streets.

Most nights, Leamy finds shelter on the sidewalk across from the old City Hall on Kennedy Boulevard. When it's cold, he stays at The Salvation Army on Florida Avenue, but there's not enough room for everyone.

"They need some kind of housing here," Leamy said.

He receives about $500 a month in benefits, which is not enough for rent, utilities and other expenses, he said. "It doesn't pay to even look for a place."

Housing is part of the coalition's 10-year plan to end homelessness. Next month, a $1 million recuperative care center, another piece of the plan, opens in north Tampa in the University Area. The center has 16 beds and will take homeless people recently released from hospitals or emergency rooms.

Participants can stay up to 18 months and will transition into housing, Nuckles said. The wheels may move slowly, he said, but they are moving.

Want to help complete the count? It continues until 11 tonight, and volunteers are needed. Call (813) 223-6115.

Reporter Sherri Ackerman can be reached at (813) 259-7144.

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