KION - Monterey, Salinas, Santa Cruz - News WeatherHomelessness Decreases In Santa Cruz County
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According to the study, which was done by the Applied Survey Research group based in Watsonville, two percent of the county's total population is homeless. Vice-President Peter Connery said the average homeless person is not what you might think. Connery said many of these people desperately need help and did not choose to be homeless.
Connery also said the economy is not a major contributor to the number of homeless in Santa Cruz County.
"Only two percent of the respondents said foreclosures had been source of a homelessness situation," said Connery.
Take Christina Sosa for an example. She said she was an addict and lost her home and her kids.
"Awful, it was the worst experience of my life," said Sosa.
Now-- thanks to a shelter-- she's sober, has a job, a place to stay and her children back.
"All I can do is remember and know where I don't want to be there again," said Sosa.
She's one of the success stories.
"Our studies show that just under 70 percent of the respondents describe disabling conditions, whether it's mental, health or a physical issue or something like substance abuse [to homelessness,]" said Connery.
On a given day, the study says there's a little more than 2,000 homeless people in the county. In a given year, there's close to 5,000.
"These folks need a little bit of help," said Connery.
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