Homeless Double in La Mesa: 55 Counted Unsheltered in Late January

It's unknown whether Larry Werner was counted, but a recent tally of county homeless found 55 people living on the street in La Mesa—more than twice the 26 found in 2010. Photographed in early January, Werner offers the face of the La Mesa unsheltered.

With the U.S. census counting 57,065 souls in La Mesa, that means 1-in-1,000 residents are homeless.

Results of the Jan. 28 Point-In-Time Count announced Friday said the number of homeless people  in San Diego County was 5.9 percent higher this year than last, rising  from 8,517  to 9,020, said the Regional Task Force on the Homeless.

The group conducted its annual count between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. as volunteers fanned throughout the county, keeping a tally of the number of people sleeping on the streets and beaches, in parks, riverbeds, canyons and other outdoor places, as well as shelters, transitional housing and motels.

The count supplies information that officials can use when applying for federal funds to aid the homeless population, and is mandated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“This year’s count is the most comprehensive since the inception of this HUD mandate in 2005,” said Peter Callstrom, task force executive director. “The data collected allows our community and continuum of care (service providers, funders and advocates) to understand and accurately report information.”

The count was divided into two parts: sheltered and unsheltered.

This year’s unsheltered count rose to 4,981, up 8.3 percent from the 4,599 counted in 2010. The sheltered count also rose, from 3,918 in 2010 to 4,039 this year, an increase of 3.1 percent.

A preliminary count result released on Feb. 10 reported a countywide increase of 3.3 percent, but further review of the maps used during the count bumped the increase to 5.9 percent, according to a press release issued by the task force

In addition to the Point-In-Time count, the group administered in-depth questionnaires of unsheltered homeless persons in February. The results of those surveys were not released.

According to the task force, San Diego County has reported a 19 percent overall increase of homelessness since 2008.