EL CAJON, Calif. (KGTV) – We are one week away from volunteers waking up in the early morning hours to take part in the annual Point In Time Count.
The yearly snapshot of the homelessness crisis gives us a better understanding of how things look on our streets and shelters.
“It's only a one-night count. We always know it's a minimum count. Some things, though, that we're looking for is seeing how we're trending on seniors,” Tamera Kohler, CEO of Regional Taskforce on Homelessness San Diego, said.
Kohler and the Regional Taskforce on Homelessness organize the count. It’s happening next week to give us an annual snapshot of how the crisis is looking.
“We've got 58 deployment sites, so we've got a couple more locations that we'll be putting people out from. But, other than that, the practice, the process, we've really gotten it down to a science,” Kohler said.
“I think the main thing we're looking for is accuracy,” Mayor Bill Wells of the City of El Cajon said.
Wells and the City of El Cajon took issue with the results of last year's Point In Time Count. ABC 10News spoke with him and El Cajon’s City Manager about it.
As we reported, the Taskforce said two dozen unhoused people were counted towards El Cajon’s total that were in the unincorporated El Cajon, which is a part of San Diego County.
Following that disagreement, conversations were had, and adjustments were made to how and where homeless individuals are counted and ways to avoid double-counting.
“It was a great conversation. It wasn't that, then there was a large discrepancy. It really is about they butt up against unincorporated areas, and they want to really be able to show the great work that they're doing in the city,” Kohler said.
“It's not like we had a significant problem with the regional task force. They were willing to look at the numbers the way we presented them, and in fact, they were willing to acquiesce and say that we were right, you know, but it's a trust but verify kind of a situation right now,” Wells said.
After the situation with the numbers last time, Wells told ABC 10News El Cajon has been doing its own version of a Point In Time Count.
It’s something Kohler said the Taskforce welcomes and supports, seeing as other groups like the Downtown San Diego Partnership do something similar.
“Anything that helps us address and end homelessness in the community, I’m supportive of,” Kohler said. “I love jurisdictions that really want to dig in and do as much as they possibly can for the folks in their community. So, I don't see it as any slight to our work or the requirement to conduct a count.”
The Regional Taskforce on Homelessness is still actively looking for volunteers for the Point In Time Count, particularly for the North County communities. If you’re interested in volunteering, please click here.
