Point-In-Time Count offers ‘snapshot’ of homelessness in Petaluma

Dozens gathered before dawn Friday for a tally that influences how much in government funds the city and county will receive to alleviate homelessness.

Before fanning out across Petaluma to conduct the annual Point-In-Time Count, organizers and volunteers met in the dining hall of Committee on the Shelterless’ Mary Isaak Center – itself a homeless shelter, and on this day one of five “deployment centers” around the county – to hold a briefing and assign routes.

After that, just before 6 a.m., nine groups of up to four volunteers left the dining hall carrying smartphones loaded with a special data-tracking application and the areas they would cover over the next few hours.

The yearly count, conducted over a single day in January, is a requirement by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the county to receive $4.1 million in federal funds and “millions” in state funds to support local homeless programs, said Michael Gause, Ending Homelessness program manager for the county’s Homelessness Services Division.

Data from this year’s count will come out in “late spring, early summer,” he said.

Last year, volunteers in Petaluma counted 245 people experiencing homelessness, accounting for about 11% of the 2,266 homeless people counted across the county. That was a 16% decrease from the 293 people counted in Petaluma the year before, and came with a 22% decrease at the county level.

“We had a large reduction in unsheltered homelessness last year. We certainly hope to keep that momentum going this year,” Gause said.

For fiscal year 2022-23, Petaluma received $1.93 million in state and federal funding toward its homeless services. This included $450,000 for services at People’s Village, a tiny homes community, and $665,000 to build the project, plus $815,000 to administer the city’s homeless services contracts, said Sarah Wolf, housing specialist with the city.

Petaluma City Council members Dennis Pocekay and Mike Healy joined the Downtown Streets Team on Friday morning, adding to the 30 volunteers helping conduct count in Petaluma. That was out of the nearly 170 that participated county-wide, according to Guase.

Among those volunteers were “guides” – formerly homeless people who know better than others where to look. They led the searches, which were mostly conducted by car,to document the number of unsheltered people they saw and to point out occupied vehicles, tents or RVs. Volunteers were advised not to disturb occupants, and input the data based on their observations.

Guides used their firsthand knowledge to assist with the count, adding valuable insight on where people likely stay. First-time guide Greggery Faulkner, 51, frequently rides around the county on a motorized unicycle along the county’s trails, he said.

“I see all these homeless people and always stop to talk to them. I kind of know who some of them are,” he said, adding that his group counted about 45 people.

Friday’s count was just part one of gathering data, Gause said.

“Over the next month, many of the guides ... will be going out and conducting about 500 surveys. They'll be paid for their time and they'll actually do in-depth interviews of people who are experiencing homelessness,” he said.

“And that's where we get all that data about reasons for homelessness, age, cause, duration, all that stuff,” he added.

Though imprecise, it provides an important “snapshot,” Gause said.

Some volunteers on Friday, including formerly homeless people, critiqued the methodology of counting the unsheltered population from afar, which they believed could lead to undercounting. All were, however, glad a count was happening.

But the Point-In-Time is only “an estimate of how many people may be experiencing homelessness in our county, at any given time,” Gause said. “You're never going to count everybody. So it’s always going to be somewhat of an undercount.”

Though imperfect, the count has emerged as a best practice, he said.

Going into the count, Vince H., formerly homeless and a first-time participant this year, thought the event would function as an outreach opportunity. Serving as a guide, he gave his insight to the group of four, which located two potential homeless encampments in west and south Petaluma over the course of about three hours.

“Like I said, there’s a lot more than what was counted today,” said the guide, who asked that his full name not be used. “We know that because they’re on the outskirts of town, in fields and in the country from here to Santa Rosa to wherever.”

He said he’d been homeless twice, for about six months each time, with the most recent time ending only three weeks ago. A career carpenter, he said he became homeless half a year ago after his work truck and $13,000 worth of tools were stolen.

“That was my career. You know, I did it for over 30 years and it just violated me,” he said.

As he spoke from inside the shelter’s dining room, he noted that there is more help being offered today since his first experience with homelessness in 2005. He said he hopes those living outside will consider accessing the homeless services available, which range from housing to mobile showers to well-being classes and a more “structured” life.

“A lot of people, they're against the homeless, because they think that the homeless rip people off and steal stuff. A lot of them out there are drug addicts and don't have any money and they're gonna do what they can to get their drugs or the alcohol,” he said.

“But a lot of people are homeless and can’t do much about it. And I’ve experienced both.”

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Sawhney at 707-521-5346 or jennifer.sawhney@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @sawhney_media.