www.montereycountynow.com SEPTEMBER 12-18, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 13 In the dark, cold hours of Wednesday, Jan. 31, John Tilley and Amanda La Roche are traveling in Tilley’s car, slowly winding their way around the roads, parking lots and cul-de-sacs of Ryan Ranch, scanning for people either sleeping in their cars or camped outside. As they enter one cul-de-sac they see an older dark blue van with some condensation buildup on the windows. They pause to discuss: Is someone sleeping in that van? They’re not sure. La Roche marks the suspected sighting in an app designed for their task as volunteers for the 2024 pointin-time count, the biennial census of people experiencing homelessness mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The volunteers’ work will aid in the future development of policies and funding addressing homelessness and housing. Later, behind a church in another section of Monterey, they see a woman outside of a car loaded with personal belongings. They stop to chat. The woman explains she and three other women spent the night in separate cars with permission from the church; La Roche logs four confirmed sightings. Tilley, a senior vice president at Pinnacle Bank, and La Roche, a nonprofit professional, are just two of 200-plus volunteers who fanned out around Monterey County in the predawn hours that day to perform the count. Seven months later, on Sept. 5, the Coalition of Homeless Services Providers announced the results: Homelessness is up by 16 percent in Monterey County compared to the last count in 2022. A total of 2,436 people were counted. Of those, 23 percent were in shelters the night of Jan. 30, and 77 percent were unsheltered. Those who were unsheltered represented an increase of 19 percent over the previous count, according to CHSP’s report. “There was an abrupt reduction of resources to our community between 2022 and 2024,” said Katrina McKenzie, executive director of CHSP in a press briefing. She cited the loss of emergency rental programs, the closure of Project Roomkey, which housed people in hotels during the pandemic, and the end of pandemic-era eviction moratoriums as reasons for the increase, among others. “The lack of affordable housing continues to be the number-one indicator of homelessness,” McKenzie said. She cited fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment of $3,100/ month, meaning over $30,000 annually for rent. With some landlords requiring households to earn three times that, they’d have to show $90,000 in annual income, disqualifying hundreds of families, she said. A survey of 374 people experiencing homelessness in the weeks after the count showed the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness increased by 19 percent and the number of families increased by 5 percent since 2022. In a spot of good news, homelessness among veterans decreased by 5 percent; for children and youth, the decrease was 3 percent. Over 80 percent of respondents said they were living in Monterey County at the time they became homeless. Adding Up Homelessness is up since 2022, driven by the end of pandemic aid and the cost of housing. By Pam Marino Damian Gonzalez (left) and James Connery discuss next steps on Jan. 31 as volunteers bring back documentation from the annual point-in-time count of unhoused people. NEWS Homelessness is up by 16 percent in Monterey County. DANIEL DREIFUSS The exclusive benefit gala featuring Michelin chefs returns to The Inn at Spanish Bay on Sunday, November 3 ARE YOU READY? Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Tax ID # 94-2157521 MOWMP.ORG/CLASSIQUE REGISTER TODAY EVENT GALLERY
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==