Grant County counts homeless

GRANT COUNTY — Volunteers traveled from Grand Coulee to Moses Lake counting Grant County's homeless Thursday during the annual homeless count.

The homeless are being counted statewide as part of a nationwide effort to document the homeless and improve services.

Community Services Director for the North Columbia Community Action Council Tom Bonnington said his group counted 10-12 homeless families, who were given a survey as they were found. The group looked through woods, along river canals and railroad tracks to locate them.

In 2006, the first year of the count, none were found during the search, Bonnington said. The 124 homeless families identified in Grant County last year were counted through local agencies. More agencies participated this year in the count, he said.

House Bill 2163 passed in the 2005 legislative session states task forces are to be created across Washington to advise county and city officials of a proposed housing plan for their respective jurisdictions. The legislation states the goal is to end homelessness in Washington by 2015.

Agencies on the task force include Family Services of Grant County, The Grant County Health District, Samaritan Healthcare and Grant County Housing Authority.

Bonnington said his group started in Grand Coulee and traveled through the rest of the county, ending in Moses Lake where the count takes the longest.

Numbers are expected to rise each year as the homeless count becomes more accurate.

"I'd like to see it start going down, but the reality is it'll probably go up as we get better," Bonnington said.

Challenges of locating the homeless include the desire of some homeless to hide with cooler temperatures bringing them indoors.