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Cold wind blows on census of homeless

Much of the county's homeless seek better shelter, making a census more difficult.

By BRADY DENNIS
Published January 26, 2007

TAMPA - Not long after sunrise Thursday, Donald Dwyer waded through the thick mangroves south of the Gandy Bridge, looking disappointed.

The rain fell cold and steady. The wind blew. He'd just come across another homeless camp. Another empty homeless camp.

"This is a bad day, a bad day," said Dwyer, 40. "Nowhere for them to stay. They don't want to be exposed to the elements."

He and a small army of fellow volunteers scoured every corner of Hillsborough County on Thursday for the daylong census of the homeless done every other year.

They searched public parks and vacant warehouses. They showed up before dawn at labor pools and after dark at shelters and encampments. They walked railroad tracks and peeked down Ybor City alleys. They stopped by churches and public libraries.

They found people like Fred Rogers - 56, a grandfather, a Vietnam Veteran - staying dry under a South Tampa picnic shelter and burning newspapers in a grill for warmth.

"God bless you. It's a good thing y'all are doing," Rogers told the volunteers, who gave him a blanket and toiletries after he answered a short questionnaire.

He said most people "have no idea" how many souls roam the streets of Hillsborough each day: "You'd probably be surprised."

But in the early morning rain and cold, counting those without a roof over their heads proved tougher than usual. Too often, volunteers arrived at one of nearly 350 predetermined sites, only to find clues.

A vacant tent. A suitcase. A ribbon on a tree branch. Pots and pans. Scattered beer bottles. A baby doll. But no people.

"There's nothing we could do about the weather," said Lesa Weikel, spokeswoman for the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County. "We made adjustments as we could."

Asked how the weather might affect the final tally, she said, "It could lower the number. We really don't know."

Communities that receive funding for homeless programs from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are required to conduct a census at least every other year.

Beyond that, officials say the count helps raise community awareness and helps them determine the true face of homelessness in the county.

"In order to meet needs," Weikel said, "We have to know what the need is."

This much is certain: Plenty of need exists. So much that even those trying to help often find themselves surprised.

"My God," said volunteer Gretchen Andes, 59, as she came Thursday morning upon another empty camp, hidden by the cover of woods. "What does this say about our country?"

Many of Hillsborough's homeless residents on Thursday fretted about the recent incident in which St. Petersburg police slashed the tents of the homeless, and said they feared a similar fate. Organizers of the census made volunteers promise to return all maps that contained locations of homeless camps: "So they don't fall into the hands of TPD and they pull some of that St. Pete crap," said organizer Ian Ross.

Weikel said it will take weeks for officials to sort out the results of Thursday's count. Workers must gather numbers from the jail and school systems and from local shelters. They must enter the data in spreadsheets and sort out any duplications.

Maybe then, Weikel hopes, they will have a clearer picture of how to help people like William Johnson, 48, who spent Thursday staying dry and warm inside the College Hill library.

He'd slept in the dugout of a Little League baseball field the night before. Thursday afternoon, he wasn't sure where he would lay his head hours later.

"Ain't no telling," he said. "It isn't dark yet."

Fast Facts:

Homeless on rise

Estimated number of homeless in Hillsborough County, according to previous census counts. Officials say their counting methods have improved over the years:

1997 - 2,300

June 1998 - 2,016

April 1999 - 3,600

March 2001 - 5,744

March 2002 - 6,481

October 2003 - 8,782

January 2005 - 11,023

Source: Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County

[Last modified January 26, 2007, 01:07:00]