The homeless population in the seven-county metro area grew by more than 18 percent in the past year, according to a survey released Monday.
The one-day census, or “snapshot,” counted 10,268 homeless people in the metro area Jan. 24 – an increase of 1,600 from the same month a year ago.
“This is not meant to be taken as an accurate count, because these people are extremely difficult to count,” said Stacey Haskell, communications director for United Way, which sponsors the survey. “The surveys become more accurate over the years when you can start to see trends.”
The survey, called The Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative, showed a rise in the concentration of homeless living in Denver this year (46 percent, compared with 40 percent) and a smaller percentage of families in the homeless population (50 percent, compared with 61 percent).
Low wages and high housing costs are making it difficult for many homeless people to get off the streets, advocates say. Almost 40 percent of the area’s homeless are employed permanently, part time or as day labor, according to the survey.
“The number of employed homeless is staggering. It underscores the disparity between the high cost of housing and low wages for people without skills,” said John Parvensky, president of the nonprofit Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
A minimum-wage earner would have to work 124 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair-market rent in Denver, according to a study by KidsCount in Colorado. Someone earning $20,400, or 30 percent of the area’s median income of $68,000, could afford rent of only $510. The market rent for a two-bedroom unit is $964.
The survey released Monday showed the biggest reason for someone becoming homeless was loss of a job (37 percent), with alcohol or drug problems second (17 percent).
Linda Murphy, director of the homeless initiative, said she was surprised that some of the clerical workers hired to work on the survey were homeless, too.
“Some of our temp workers … were homeless and living on motel vouchers,” Murphy said. “They get cleaned up and go to work every day. Some are well educated; one has a master’s degree.
“It’s not just the uneducated who are homeless. There are people like this all around us.”
The survey showed that 35 percent of the homeless had a high school diploma or equivalent certification, and 30 percent had continued their education beyond high school.
The survey numbers were much higher this year, in part, because 80 more counters were used, said Roxane White, manager of Denver’s Department of Human Services and chair of the city’s Commission to End Homeless. While it’s difficult to determine just how many more homeless people are in the area, all indications suggest the population continues to rise, she added.
Her department didn’t count people in transitional housing or living with friends and family.
“We are interested only in the number of truly homeless,” she said. “We don’t count people in transitional housing unless they get kicked out and become truly homeless.”
