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SAUNDRA AMRHEINThe survey pinpoints needs and estimates the population count for the Homeless Coalition of Pasco County.
The orange glow of highway lights from Interstate 75 lit the weed-filled lot, seemingly empty but for an abandoned boat on its side.
But a closer look behind the boat by Pasco sheriff's Deputy Gennis Folsom revealed something more: two men.
They stirred under a mountain of blankets.
"You are in no trouble or anything like that," Folsom told the men. "We have some people from the Homeless Coalition. They want to talk to you."
As the night sky turned a pallid yellow, Folsom and his partner, Deputy Gary Raulerson, stepped back from the men's blankets stretched on the asphalt to let two students take over.
Pasco-Hernando Community College student Kimberly Hunt and Saint Leo University social work major Jim Lagger walked forward carrying trash bags. They were among about 100 students from the two schools who fanned out across the county early Monday with law enforcement to count the homeless and give away care packages.
The schools are working with the Homeless Coalition of Pasco County on the survey to gauge not only the number, but also the needs of the homeless population. Students, who receive class credit for the work, paired up with sheriff's deputies and local police officers to search through woods and visit shelters and day labor camps.
In some cases they found victims of a worsening economy; in others, victims of addiction.
For those who participated, students handed out care packages of deodorant, toothpaste, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
"There are some blankets in here," Lagger offered the men at about 6 a.m. in the vacant parking lot on State Road 52 hugging the west side of I-75. With Hunt and the two deputies, Lagger had already traipsed through dew-soaked knee-high grass and weeds for two hours in the chilly predawn.
The students had left care packages in an alcove under an arching pine tree in another field next to I-75. The temporary shelter held only trash bags, Milwaukee's Best beer cans and a Pepperidge Farm cookies box.
They also tramped through the woods behind the Flying J Travel Plaza and nearby fields, looking for the small villages they had heard about, complete with benches, dressers and tents.
Organizers feared that many would hide or flee in anticipation of an arrest if they saw law enforcement.
"We're doing a survey, trying to find out what you need in the area," Lagger told the men.
They struggled to stand and blink the sleep away from their eyes.
One of the men, Kevin Elliott, tapped the breast pocket of his denim jacket, looking for his cigarettes. Wayne Cuthriell, a 51-year-old Virginia native with slicked gray hair, found them and nodded agreement to the students.
"Where did you stay last night?" Lagger asked Elliott, beginning the survey.
"Right here," he answered, as trucks and cars roared by on the highway above.
"See, I don't consider myself homeless," Elliott said.
"See that sky there?" he added, pointing up. "As long as that is there, I'm not homeless."
Elliott, of Vermont, wandered into Pasco County with Cuthriell after getting "run off of the last place" up the road, he said.
Both men admitted to being alcoholics.
Lagger started to tell him about Pasco's services. Elliott interrupted him with a lung-wrenching cough.
"Hold on a second," Elliott said, doubling over to cough.
The two make money on the side of the road with a sign that says, among other things, "Broke."
They said they don't like homeless shelters, preferring the open air.
Kim Hoffman, office manager for the coalition, said that the men's case shows the difficulty for area agencies to reach out to people who need help breaking addictions and solving other problems.
"It is a challenge to try to get people to come on board as far as seeking assistance," Hoffman said. "They might have attempted a program once before and personally failed at it, and it's hard to build their self esteem."
Many of the homeless people found on the west side said they had been laid off from jobs in northern states and moved to Florida to try their luck in a less expensive environment, Hoffman said.
She expects the number of homeless - a tally that will be reached with the assistance of the Pasco County School District - to be ready in a few weeks.
The last count, taken two years ago, found 2,856 homeless people in Pasco, including 2,568 homeless children in Pasco schools.
The count, organized by Saint Leo, is necessary to satisfy requirements for state and federal grants, Hoffman said.
Involving the students also opens the eyes of young people, she said.
After the talk with the men in the lot, Hunt felt a little overwhelmed.
"I'm sad," said Hunt, 27. "I think I'm going to cry."
To Hoffman, that reaction is a good sign.
"This is how you get people to help," she said, "when they see the reality of how people live."
- Saundra Amrhein covers social services and east Pasco crime. She can be reached at 352 521-5757, ext. 23, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6108, then 23. Her e-mail address is amrhein@sptimes.com