Homeless population count to bring fed aid

Laura Conrow and her 16-year-old daughter, Lexie, will be spending mother-daughter time today in a unique way.

The two will be at Friends In Service Helping from 1-4 p.m. on East Long Street giving away free blankets, hygiene kits and a meal to the homeless, who come in for an interview.

"I'm excited, but kind of nervous," Lexie said. "It's going to be kind of eye-opening."

The Point-in-Time count conducted today throughout Carson City works to identify the number of homeless people living here. The information collected by the count will be used by the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development to grant housing funding for homeless programs and projects, not only in Carson City but nationwide.

"What we are trying to do here is create a picture of our community, a picture of what it's like for the homeless in our community," said Margo Chappel, of Social Entrepreneurs Inc., a private consulting firm in Reno helping run the count.

In addition to in-depth interviews at FISH, volunteers will walk the streets counting the homeless there. Managers of service organizations will conduct their own counts of homeless people they serve. Owners of motels will count the homeless at their establishments.

Those scheduled to count the homeless people on the street are scheduled to meet outside FISH at 5:30 a.m. this morning to begin with coffee and snacks. The street counters will travel in pairs to designated areas.

They will give homeless people a ticket for a blanket, hygiene kit and meal at FISH and also identify them as single, family, minors or over 60 in their data.

"We do want to get as accurate a count as possible," Chappel said during a meeting last week. "Those of you doing the street count will have specific areas (to cover in the city) to prevent duplication."

Carson City Sheriff's Office volunteers will cover much of the downtown area on foot. Law enforcement will also conduct fly-bys to identify homeless encampments in such areas as the Brunswick and Carson River canyons which are commonly homes to transients. The plane will also fly over areas such as Ash Canyon, Clear Creek Canyon and Lone Mountain.

The Conrows, who attend St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Carson City, are among many volunteers working to provide an accurate county of the homeless.

The church is donating 15 fleece blankets, which will be given out at FISH this afternoon. Lexie, who attends Sierra Lutheran High School in Minden, is required to do a service outreach project once a quarter.

"A lot of homelessness goes unnoticed under the radar," her mother said. "We don't really realize how many people are homeless."

Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.

homeless survey

Some questions on the homeless survey to be conducted from 1-4 p.m. today at the FISH office behind the thrift store include:

• Are you a veteran?

• Are you disabled?

• How long have you been homeless?

• Are you homeless with a spouse or life partner?

• How big of an apartment/house do you need?

Free blankets, hygiene kits and meals will also be given out. The information collected from today's Point-In-Time count is used by HUD, which provides housing funding based on homeless numbers.

FISH can be reached at 882-3474.