It’s 3am and my alarm clock goes off. I don’t want to leave my warm bed, but I have to get downtown by 4am to participate in the “We All Count” Annual Survey of the Homeless.
The survey is important for so many reasons. First, they survey gives local leaders and support organizations the data they need to understand how many homeless we have in San Diego and what kinds of challenges they face. Second, the survey helps San Diego get its fair share of funding to address this problem.
The survey is also a chance to touch each homeless individual as a person. Each has a story to tell – how they became homeless, why they remain homeless, and the difficulties of being homeless.
With flashlights, clipboards, toiletry kits, and a $10 Subway gift card in hand, over 100 volunteers deployed to the streets of downtown in teams to conduct the survey. I joined up my good friend Councilmember Scott Sherman and Tom Theisen, the Chairman of San Diego’s Regional Task Force on Homelessness to talk to these San Diegans living in the cold and on the streets.
After only a few blocks walking we found a small encampment of homeless under one of the underpasses for the I-5 freeway.
Tom and I interviewed “Doug” (I’m not using his real name to protect his privacy) who was just lying on the ground in a sleeping bag next to a scooter – he is in his 50s and just recently arrived to San Diego from Texas. Doug has been sleeping on the streets for the past three weeks and has been homeless on-and-off for three years.
Doug only completed 8th grade, but worked for years as an electrician – and somewhere along the way, he was injured and became disabled. Even though he receives Social Security, he is homeless.
His biggest complaint? There is a three-month wait to get into any shelter in San Diego. Doug says he’s going to leave San Diego in a few weeks and return to Texas.
I asked him what he would want to tell San Diegans if he had a chance. His response? “Just help us. We are real people. I want a home again, but have not been able to make it happen.”
At the end of the interview, I gave him my gift card and asked Tom for his. Two gift cards for Doug. He asked for my flashlight, and I parted with that too.
Tom indicated Doug is an ideal candidate for our Housing First programs in San Diego, where his disability payments could allow him to get subsidized housing locally. We left Doug with information on how to get help, should he want it.
After our team finished interviews, we left the encampment and continued walking.
We came across a woman sitting in front of 7-11 wrapped in a blanket. “Stacey” initially resisted Tom’s request for an interview for the survey, so I struck up a conversation with her, complimenting her on a bracelet she had and buying her a cup of coffee and a snickers bar. Either the compliment or the food worked, because she consented to the interview.
Stacey has been homeless since 2006. She once worked at a supermarket, but lost her job after she said she slipped and fell on water and became disabled. She’s been homeless ever since because she says her disability was never approved.
Stacey also complained about not being able to get a bed in any of the local shelters. Again, we were told of a three month waiting list.
Stacey talked about being robbed, assaulted, raped and harassed on the streets. Stacey has been in prison and has five misdemeanors for drug-related offenses and public indecency. She openly discussed her mental health problems. She even gave advice – go to the Coronado Emergency Room, not Grossmont, she said. “The waiting time is much shorter.” She would know – she’s been to the emergency room three times in the past year.
Because she had already devoured her Snickers bar and drank the coffee, and I had already given out all of my Subway gift cards, I bought her another round.
Before leaving, I asked Stacey what she would like to say to San Diegans if she had a chance. “I just want someone to say ‘good morning’.” Stacey is upset that San Diegans look past her when she is on the street as though she is invisible. She is a real person, and she exists. “Just say good morning.”
Stacey then added “Also tell San Diegans to vote! They need to do their research and vote. I voted for Barack Obama last time.”
I chuckled and asked “Do you remember who you voted for in the Mayor’s race?”
Stacey paused and said “Sanders? Hmm. Wait, no it was that Filner guy. What a mess that was!”
She then looked at me and said “You look familiar.” I just smiled and thanked Stacey for her time.
It was almost 7am by now. It was cold and even though the sun was coming up, I was freezing after three hours.
I’m proud of the work I did on the City Council to get our landmark “one-stop” homeless center approved in Downtown. The survey this morning, however, demonstrates we have much more work to do on this issue that impacts not only the individuals living on the street, but the surrounding neighborhoods and businesses.
At least for me, the survey also reinforces the individual aspect of this problem. We can debate where we can best get and invest funding to address homelessness, but Stacey’s simple request costs taxpayers nothing. “I just want someone to say ‘good morning.’”