At least 16,203 homeless people live in Colorado, and more than half of them are working poor, according to a report released Monday by a state Division of Housing committee.
The latest figure, which committee members say is conservative, is based on a 24-hour survey in August, the first statewide homeless census since a 1988 survey reported 3,637 homeless.
Children and families account for one-third of the state’s homeless population.
Hundreds of shelter workers, homeless advocates, community volunteers and others conducted interviews across the state at shelters, campgrounds, soup kitchens, transitional housing and on the street.
Of the counties surveyed, only 10 reported no homeless individuals on the night of the survey. Thirty-three counties reported 10 or more homeless individuals, including 71 homeless in rural Prowers County, and 21 homeless in Pitkin County, where Aspen is located.
“Only the people who would identify themselves as homeless are in the report,” said Kathi Williams, director of the Colorado Division of Housing and member of the governor’s Interagency Council on Homelessness.
“The more liberal number is more than 17,000 homeless in Colorado, based on the population that the surveyors thought were in the woods or staying in the secret places.”
Half of all respondents reported at least one disabling condition, including substance abuse, mental illness, chronic medical problems and developmental disabilities.
Minorities account for a disproportionately high percentage of the homeless population. African-Americans account for 4.1 percent of Colorado’s population, but for 14 percent of its homeless residents.
The surveyors interviewed women who described climbing trees and tying themselves onto the trunks as a safety measure before settling down for sleep at night. They talked with families who live in pay-by-the-week motels because food, transportation and medical expenses defeat their effort to save enough money for the deposits most landlords require.
The committee is compiling the results of a winter count held in late January. Tom Luehrs, executive director of the St. Francis Center, expects that number to be much higher than August’s tally. Randall Loeb, a committee member who once was homeless, predicted that even the winter count would fall short of the true numbers.
“People are reluctant to cooperate, even when an ex-homeless guy is talking to them,” he said.
