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Homelessness in the Bay Area — it’s worse than we thought.

The massive tent encampments and dilapidated RVs lining neighborhood streets make it clear there’s a problem, but according to a new report, the Bay Area’s homelessness crisis is even worse than previously thought.

An estimated 25,951 people were living without homes in the Bay Area last year, researchers with housing and real estate website Zillow calculated in a report released Tuesday. That’s over 6,000 more than were officially counted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Zillow analysts built algorithms that took into account cities’ populations, poverty rates, rent affordability and other metrics, and calculated by how much the official counts were likely to be off. The company hopes the new numbers can give struggling cities a more realistic picture of homelessness in their communities, and help them come up with better solutions.

“To really get the scope of this problem, having more accurate numbers is important — to really justify that this is an issue that deserves attention,” said Skylar Olsen, director of economic research and outreach for Zillow.

Homelessness experts have long agreed that the HUD-mandated “Point-in-Time” homeless counts — which rely on volunteers and city and county staff performing a visual count of homeless residents every two years — under counted communities’ homeless residents.

“Just think about the sheer logistical challenge of counting a population which is transitory, possibly moving around, and could have every incentive to hide themselves,” Olsen said.

Zillow estimates there were 10,121 homeless residents living in Santa Clara County last year — up from the 7,394 counted by the HUD census. In Alameda County, Zillow estimated there were 6,975 homeless — compared to 5,629 counted by HUD. And in San Francisco, Zillow estimated a homeless population of 8,855 — up from the 6,858 counted by HUD.

“It’s no secret that people doing work in these communities know that the point-in-time count has been a continuous undercount — the methodology is reflective of one night in a year, not the ongoing need,” said Jennifer Loving, CEO of Santa Clara County nonprofit Destination: Home. “I think the real question is: when will the Bay Area realize that we have an extraordinary crisis for folks who need … extremely low-income housing, and when will we collectively respond?”

In September alone, 333 new households came to Destination: Home seeking help finding shelter or paying rent, but housing was available for just 132 of them. That means 201 families fell through the cracks in just one month — possibly adding to the region’s homeless population, Loving said. She urged the Bay Area to invest more money in homelessness prevention, and to prioritize building low-income housing.

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Tagged bay area, Homeless, hungry

Many Sacramento homeless shelters turn away pets. This one welcomes 4-legged friends

BY HANNAH DARDEN

DECEMBER 22, 2018 03:00 AM,

Julie Hemingway refused to go to a homeless shelter unless she could be with her cat, Tammy. She didn’t want to be separated from the gray tabby, who’s registered as Hemingway’s emotional support animal, in order to get off the street.

She said she camped by the Taco Bell on Northgate Boulevard for three weeks, with nowhere else to go, until a “wonderful” police officer came and told her about the triage shelter in North Sacramento. She’s been there, with Tammy, since early October.

“I would not have come here when the police officer showed up if I couldn’t be with her,” Hemingway said. “Here, these people are angels of mercy.”

The Railroad Drive facility, run by Volunteers of America, is the only shelter in Sacramento that allows displaced people to live with their pets. Beds are organized in pods of eight to ten, with living and storage space for each shelter resident. Many beds have pet crates at the foot.

The shelter on Railroad Drive has been open since last winter, and the city just voted to keep the shelter open through April, though its capacity will be reduced.

Animal services like medical care, licensing, vaccinations and spay and neuter procedures are available to the pets at the shelter. The services are provided by the city’s Front Street Animal Shelter, which also provides services to homeless pet parents at their headquarters near Old Sacramento.

Front Street recently received a $100,000 grant from PetSmart Charities to keep up its work at the shelter. Gina Knepp, manager of animal shelter, that the PetSmart Charities donation is a good sign that large animal welfare groups are paying attention to the plight of homeless pet owners.

“We learned in Katrina that you can’t just take people out of their homes and not give them resources for their animals,” Knepp said.

Knepp said that people are always going to have and love their pets “whether they’re in a house or not.” Because of that, she said, animal care services are necessary in the homeless community.

“Most pet owners have very close bonds with their animals,” Knepp said. “Sometimes that’s all they’ve got.”

Veronica Venzke has been at the shelter for about six months with her dog, Biggie, a large pit mix with a meaty head and a shiny gray coat. Venzke said she’s still looking for housing, but in the meantime she wishes for a dog run to turn Biggie loose in, so he can run off leash.

Before she came to the triage shelter, Biggie wasn’t licensed or neutered, but Venzke said Front Street got it taken care of right away.

Knepp said that every new animal that arrives at the shelter gets paperwork done to match them to their owner, so they don’t get separated.

They also get flea treatment, shots and, if necessary, the shelter can provide muzzles. Knepp estimates that her group has served 300 shelter pets in the last year.

“We started with 100 crates, and it wasn’t enough,” Knepp said. “At one point we had 200 people and over 100 animals.”

Knepp said that they offer spay and neuter services to everyone, and the response is “overwhelmingly yes,” with few exceptions.

They teach the shelter’s pet parents how to disinfect to prevent pet disease, and have a trainer available on Fridays to help train their pets. The idea of the training, Knepp said, is to teach responsibility for the animals, to teach good pet behavior and to deepen the pet-owner relationship so that it’s easier to adjust when they transition into long-term housing.

Hemingway chose to get Tammy spayed and chipped. The vet, Hemingway said, even gave her some calming drops to give Tammy when it gets stressful for her — she’s one of very few cats at the shelter.

Tammy walks on a leash, and Hemingway said she’ll walk right up to the big dogs and will touch their faces with her paws.

Hemingway also runs a nonprofit called ES Advocates, which helps disabled, homeless and displaced people live with their service animals without extra fees. She hopes to build it up and focus on veterans — Hemingway served in the ’80s — after she finds reliable housing.

“The more you help others, the more it helps you,” Hemingway said. “I’ve got the Lord and my kitty. That’s all I need.”

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110 homeless people have died in Sacramento County this year. Community gathers to hear their names.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/homeless/article223117590.html

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Women’s Daytime Drop-in Center offers a safe place to eat, relax

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Tagged charity, donation, give, Homeless

Wheelchair repair program a lifeline for the disabled — particularly on the streets

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Tagged charity, disabled, donation, give, Homeless, wheelchair repair

Sweep Report: Potrero homeless camp moved two blocks to old camp

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Tagged charity, donation, give, Homeless
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