Thursday is the final day of annual count of the 2016 homeless people in Fresno. City leaders have extolled the progress in reducing the number homeless people while at the same time defending its method of counting the homeless population.
Last year’s count showed a dramatic decline in Fresno’s homeless population.
Advocates criticized the report because it followed the city breaking up homeless encampments and therefore they claim it did not count a sizable portion of the population.
Jody Ketcheside with the Fresno-Madera Continuum of Care stands by the count saying this year they are sending more volunteers than ever to canvas every inch of the city looking for homeless people.
“I believe in those numbers. That reduction. And we had an increased number in beds available. And we have had some technical assistance come in to help us be more efficient getting people into housing. So we are just better at what we do,” Ketcheside said.
Mayor Ashley Swearengin believes Fresno is two years away from eliminating long term homelessness in the city, which she calls ‘functional zero’.
“Obviously there is a constant flux that happens and additional people become homeless. But essentially we will have the size of system we need to serve the people who are on the street,” Swearengin said.
Swearengin also cites a big increase in the number of available long term housing in Fresno as one reason for the decline.
The results of the survey will not be available until next year.