Volunteers sought for Vernon County winter effort to count homeless in the area

An organizational meeting for the Vernon County 2009 Winter Point In Time Homeless Count will be held at the Crawford House, 1117 N. West St., Tuesday, Jan. 13, at noon. All volunteers and/or organizations interested in participating in the annual count are asked to have representation at the meeting.

The Winter Point In Time Count will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 28, throughout the state of Missouri. The time period for data collections is a 24 hour time-period (midnight to midnight).

Communities need accurate data to:

* Make funding recommendations to elected officials.

* Determine the size and scope of homelessness at the local level.

* Track local trends of homeless population.

* Plan services and programs to appropriately address local needs.

* Measure progress in addressing homelessness.

* Measure performance of individual programs and the systems as a whole.

The concept is designed to help communities develop the capacity to envision, organize and plan comprehensive and long-term solutions to address the problem of homelessness in the community. These steps aim to end homelessness and prevent individuals from returning to homelessness.

The most recent such count was conducted in July. At that time, Carol Branham, director of the Nevada Housing Authority, noted that people without housing or living in substandard conditions are out there. There's a segment of the community who at best have a transient housing situation -- going from couch to couch, staying temporarily with first one friend, then another. Others take shelter in abandoned buildings or live in their vehicles. Nevada Police Lt. Jens Barclay estimates that one in three of the people he interviews can't provide an address.

In Vernon County, homeless people might be anyone -- from the grandma on a fixed income who can no longer keep up her house to the young parents who fell on hard times, Branham noted.

In July, in Region 9 (Vernon, Hickory, Barton, Cedar, Dade, Po;k, Dallas, Lawrence, McDonald, Barry, Stone and Taney counties, 460 homeless people were identified, with 120 of them unsheltered on the day of the count. Of those, 100 were children, 18 of whom were unsheltered. Forty-eight percent were male; 9 percent were veterans; and 55 percent were persons with a known disability. Forty of the homeless persons were in Vernon County on the day of the count. Throughout the state of Missouri, the July count identified a total of 1,862 homeless persons, 601 of whom were unsheltered. Fifty-two percent were male; 618 were children, of whom 221 were unsheltered; 8 percent were veterans, and 42 percent had a known disability. The statewide report, from the Missouri Housing Development Commission, notes that "disability encompasses alcohol/substance abuse, AIDS/HIV positive, mental illness and physical disability."

Local service agencies and individuals will again be asked to help with the surveys. For more information about the count or to volunteer, please contact Carol Branham, Vernon County Leader at (417) 448-2730 or (417) 448-4529.