Hundreds are homeless in Whatcom. Could COVID-19 ‘exacerbate the crisis’ that existed?
The number of people who were homeless in Whatcom County rose by nearly 1% this year, according to a count conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic hit here.
A total of 707 individuals were homeless, a slight increase from 700 last year, according to the recently released report for the 2020 Point-In-Time Count, an annual census of homeless people that was conducted in January.
Advocates said they don’t yet know how the pandemic, a public health crisis that has rippled out to affect the economy and jobs, will affect homelessness in the future in Whatcom County.
“Let us not forget that homelessness alone is a health crisis. Being homeless increases risk of premature death. COVID-19 has great potential to exacerbate the crisis that already existed,” said Teri Bryant, director of the Whatcom Homeless Service Center at the Opportunity Council, in a news release on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
The count is conducted throughout the U.S. during the last week of January. Advocates have said the count is a one-day snapshot and the actual number of homeless is higher.
In Whatcom County, residents have struggled between housing costs that have outpaced the growth in wages combined with slow development of affordable housing and a low rate of rental vacancies, according to the report.
“Furthermore, given the current economic and health crisis due to COVID-19 and related rent moratoriums, the future housing landscape is uncertain. New resources have been provided to address the emergency, but it is too soon to understand the full impact of these crises on homelessness or on the homeless housing system,” the report stated.
Key findings
Here are some of the trends revealed in the report:
▪ The 707 people who were counted this year were part of 555 households that were homeless. A household is made up of one or more individuals.
▪ While the count showed that the total number of those who are homeless hasn’t shifted much in the past year, the overall numbers don’t mean that people haven’t been helped, according to the news release from the Whatcom County Health Department, which plays a role in helping those who are homeless or preventing homelessness.
Of the 555 households who said this year that they were homeless, just 14% said they were last year as well, according to the news release.
▪ It’s not all bad news. Last year, more than 2,221 individuals found housing or received help to keep them from becoming homeless via the network that provides services through the Whatcom County Coordinated Entry System.
“Our community has made deep investments in housing for those who need it. Without these investments, the situation would be far worse today,” Bryant said in the release.
▪ A total of 64 households were families with children, making up 192 individuals. The median family size was three people.
▪ A total of 218 people — of the 707 — were unsheltered, meaning they were living in camps, vehicles and other places not meant for human habitation.
▪ A total of 489 people were sheltered, meaning they were in emergency shelters or transitional housing.
▪ 41 people who were homeless were veterans, which was down from 51 veterans last year. And while the most recent count showed a 51% drop in homeless veterans since the baseline year of 2008, more help was needed.
“Despite the progress in recent years in reducing homelessness experienced by veterans, additional resources are necessary to achieve our objective of ending homelessness for all veterans,” the report stated.
▪ The two biggest reasons for homelessness were eviction/loss of housing, at 39%, and mental illness, at 30%.
Physical health/disability was third, at 27%, while job loss/unemployment was fourth, at 25%
Domestic violence was fifth, at 23%.
Homeless advocates said there isn’t always just one cause for why people become homeless.
“Homelessness results from a complex set of circumstances that require people to choose between food, shelter and other needs. In fact, 19% of respondents to this year’s count reported three or more reasons for their homelessness,” the report stated.
▪ 64% said their last stable housing was in Whatcom County, a “fairly stable” statistic that the report says ”refutes a common misperception that new services attract new people from elsewhere.”
▪ A total of 21% of those who were homeless were 55 years or older, up from 17% last year — a continuing trend that “highlights the disparate impact of rising rents on seniors in our community,” the report said.
▪ 42% of the homeless were women.
▪ 40 was the median age of all homeless individuals, although ages ranged from 1 year old to 86 years old.
▪ There were disparities among those who were homeless.
For example, Native Americans are 2.7% of Whatcom County residents, according to U.S. Census data, but 8% of the homeless.
And as they do nationally, homeless youths who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer make up a “disproportionate number” of the overall homeless youth population in Whatcom County, at 38%.
