By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The homeless count in January in Hays showed no one living on the streets, but an organizer said the count likely does not reflect the reality of homelessness in Hays.
First Call for Help helped collect data for the statewide Homeless Coalition Point-In-Time Count on Jan. 23.
First Call volunteers interviewed people at Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, Hays Workforce Center and Hays Public Library. Although this count is supposed to cover all of Ellis County, First Call had no volunteers in Ellis or Victoria.
The survey is voluntary and covers age, martial status, number of people in household, gender, race, ethnicity, military service, number of times the person has been homeless in the last three years and factors that may have contributed to their homelessness.
Count volunteers interviewed 14 people; three people refused to complete the survey.
Of the 11 who did complete the survey, seven did not have a permanent place to stay and were at risk of being homeless, said Linda Mills, director of First Call for Help, the local agency that conducted the survey.
This includes people who were staying with family or friends or were staying in a hotel that they are not paying for, she said.
Individuals can't be counted as literally homeless unless they are staying somewhere that is not intended for habitation. Examples include living in a tent, on the street or in a vehicle.
"We didn't encounter anyone who didn't have a roof over their head," Mills said.
However, she said these numbers can be deceiving. People who are defined as homeless are likely staying in place when the weather is cold, Mills said.
"Unfortunately, it is not really an indicator for us of how many homeless we might have in the community," Mills said.
In cities, you might see people gathering at homeless shelters or soup kitchens at this time of the year, but this is not necessarily the case in rural areas, she said. The homeless population in a rural area may more difficult to reach.
Past Hays point-in-time counts have varied widely from between 25 and 100 surveys being completed. This year's count is the lowest recorded for Hays, Mills said.
"I don't know that it shows a true picture of homelessness or at risk," Mills said of the count. "We know there a few people who are literally homeless, although we didn't encounter them, but most of them are hunkered down somewhere.
"I think what we see in Hays is more the struggle of being able to afford their own place or being evicted and not having any place to go and really scrambling around and trying to find some place to stay."
Mills said the statewide homeless count numbers will be turned in to the federal government to determine housing funding for the state. Mills said she was unaware of any agency in northwest Kansas applying for funds at this time.
Separate from the coalition count, the Hays school district is currently reporting 33 students who meet the criteria for homelessness. However, the district defines "homeless" differently than the Homeless Coalition.
It includes students who are sharing housing with other people due to loss of housing, economic hardship or a similar reason in addition to families who don't have a roof over their heads.
The school district noted, the 33 students it has on record are only those who have self-reported their housing status.
During the warmer summer months, Mills said Hays sees an uptick in the number of transients coming through the area.
"[When] the weather is warmer, that is when people are usually on the move," Mills said. "I think they come from the warmer climates maybe back to where they are from during those months that are warmer. We see higher numbers in the spring and the fall in as far as transients go."
Hays does not have a homeless shelter. The closest shelter is in Salina.
"We have a of people who come into First Call for Help and ask if we can provide a place to stay, and unfortunately, we can’t do that at this point," Mills said. "We don't have many good alternatives for them at this point."
However, First Call is working on a capital campaign to remodel space in its building into transitional housing. The program is called First Step.
It would include temporary housing for people who are already established in the community and provide services to help those people move to permanent housing.
SEE RELATED STORY: First Call for Help launches housing fundraising campaign
