By Khalida Sarwari
For the past year, a 71-year-old veteran has spent his days living out of his car at the intersection of U.S. Highway 101 and state Highway 85 in San Jose, among the thousands of people who are homeless in Santa Clara County and who, prior to this week, were nameless to the world.
The man, who goes by “Charles,” has diabetes, asthma, emphysema and liver disease, as well as mental illness and alcohol addiction, among other ailments.
“He needs our help,” Hilary Barroga, chairperson of the Santa Clara County Collaborative on Affordable Housing and Homeless Issues, said in front of San Jose City Hall this morning.
Barroga and others held a debriefing on a three-day homeless survey conducted this week to determine why the most vulnerable and long-term homeless remain so, and to create a registry for a campaign that aims to move 1,000 homeless people into permanent housing by 2013.
As part of the Housing 1000 campaign, this week hundreds of volunteers canvassed the streets and shelters of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale from 4:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
They identified and surveyed more than 700 people who are homeless, 271 of whom were found to have health conditions with a high mortality risk.
The volunteers gathered their information, including their names, pictures and dates of birth, health status, institutional history, length of homelessness, patterns of shelter use, and previous housing situation.
Of those surveyed, the oldest homeless person was 85 years old and the youngest was 18. The record for the longest length of homelessness was 58 years. One out of every five people surveyed reported being employed.
The data will be used to create a registry of those who are in most need of housing and medical care, among other services.
Another survey will be done in Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Martin on July 20 and 21.
Becky Kanis, the director for the national 100,000 Homes campaign, said it is one thing to be without a permanent home, but even more tragic for people to die on the streets unknown.
“It upsets me that there are people dying on the streets who we don’t even know their names,” Kanis said.