In the wee hours of Thursday morning, groups of three and four people headed out from the El Toro Public Library in Lake Forest for the last day of Orange County’s biennial count of unhoused people. The survey helps officials decide what services are needed and keep track of changing demographics and trends.
The last point in time count in Orange County saw a spike of around 28% in the number of unhoused people, with around 7,300 people experiencing homelessness. Results for the point in time count usually come out in May.
What volunteers observed
Rocio Palafox and Cameron Pastrano from Orange County’s Office of Care Coordination together with volunteer Mike Kimball went out to survey Irvine on Thursday morning. All the unhoused people they encountered were living in their cars parked at places like Irvine’s Metrolink station and long-term parking lots.
They were just waking up as they answered the anonymous survey.
One of the people surveyed — who asked that LAist not identify her as she is in the process of applying for jobs — was 59 years old and said she has been sleeping in her car for over a year.
Another person, 61, also said she’s living in her car because she has trouble finding work. She also asked that LAist not use her name as she is hoping to land a job soon.
“ I got laid off from two jobs at the same time right before Christmas, which was really hard,” she said.
Becks Heyhoe-Khalil, executive director of United to End Homelessness, tallied people experiencing homelessness in Costa Mesa, where all the people she encountered were sleeping on the streets.
“ Over and over again, what we heard was financial, loss of a job and the challenge to be able to continue paying rent and it sort of began this spiraling effect,” she said.
When wages are stagnant and do not increase with the rising cost of living, Heyhoe-Khalil said, it’s “ a really dangerous recipe for people to fall through the cracks and end up experiencing homelessness.”
“ Lost my job and lost my place to live because of it,” she said. “ Rent is crazy, can’t afford it. You need more than one job.”