SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — It's that "point in time" of the year again as the Regional Task Force on Homelessness hit the streets of San Diego Thursday morning to learn where the region’s homeless population stands.
The initiative is the most comprehensive way to see how many people are unhoused in San Diego and what their needs are in order to help them.
ABC 10News followed one of six teams Thursday morning, working for Father Joe's Villages, who went out to gather more information.
Among the boots on the ground was Paul Delessio, Director of Coordinated Services at Father Joe's Villages. Delessio, a social worker for over 20 years, said he's seen an improvement when it comes to the amount of unhoused people choosing to sleep on the streets.
Delessio believes that has largely to do with the amount of available housing options.
"Right now, in San Diego, we do have a pretty good variety of shelters that people can choose to go in, and choice is the key with that," Delessio said. "With a lot of clients, they might not choose right away to go into a sober environment so we provide them with another environment and then they can make that choice once they go in there."
Last year's Point-In-Time count showed more than 10,000 people living either on the streets or in shelters throughout San Diego County, and it was a 22 percent increase over the previous year.
Out of that 10,000, 6,500 were in the city of San Diego.
The number of unsheltered people could change because of the “Unsafe Camping Ordinance” in place in the city and the added shelters in the area, however Father Joe's Villages said they have not felt any differences in their services.
Josh Bohannan, Director of Public Affairs for Father Joe's Villages, said, "We haven’t seen any change in the numbers of people that we are serving both in our shelters, in our health center, or in our lunch lines. So, individuals are still coming back to get the services they need, even if they have to be dispersed throughout the region."
While the task force went out to gather information, they also handed out supplies from blankets and socks to $10 gift cards to 7-Eleven.
The morning task force worked from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., while an evening task force is scheduled to go out from 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
