Early data shows sharp increase in Thurston County’s homeless population
Preliminary data from the 2020 Point-in-Time count in Thurston County shows a nearly 43% increase in unsheltered people who completed surveys over the 2019 count, Homelessness Prevention and Affordable Housing Coordinator Keylee Marineau told county commissioners Tuesday.
The numbers come with a caveat: They aren’t yet final. The state Department of Commerce plans to release final numbers in May, but the county estimates this early data is accurate within a 3% margin of error.
In 2019, 394 people surveyed during the count were living unsheltered.
This year, preliminary data shows 562 people who completed surveys were unsheltered, Marineau said. Six more people surveyed were staying in hospitals or jail, and 107 were staying with friends and family. Those categories aren’t part of the official count, Marineau told The Olympian, but are part of the county’s supplemental data set.
Another 298 people surveyed were living in shelters and 168 in transitional housing. The total across living situations: 1,028.
There may have been a slight increase in the unsheltered population, Marineau told The Olympian, but the sharp upward trend is likely due to a shift in count methodology and a wealth of volunteers.
She said 230 people volunteered to help with the count, and 40 people who conducted surveys were either living or had lived in encampments. Plus, Lacey and Tumwater increased participation, she said.
Marineau also shared some demographic breakdowns of the 675 unsheltered people surveyed:
- 59% listed their last permanent address as in Thurston County;
14% listed their last permanent address as in neighboring Pierce, Mason, or Lewis counties;
10% listed their last permanent address as in another Washington county;
- 17% listed their last permanent address as out-of-state;
- 12% identified as being LGBTQ;
The top five causes of homelessness were recorded, in order, as: eviction/loss of home, job loss/unemployment, family rejection, substance dependency, and physical disability.
Last year’s census counted 800 people living unsheltered, in shelters, and in transitional housing all together. So, the preliminary numbers represent a 28.5% increase overall.
The total doesn’t include people who declined to take surveys, Marineau said.
This year’s count was led by Thurston County, rather than the city of Olympia, for the first time in recent years, and was aimed at informing a regional response to homelessness. Data gathered in the count will help the county obtain state and federal funding for shelters and other services.
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
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