Feb. 9, 2009 — There are more than 200 chronic homeless on St. Thomas and close to 200 more on St. Croix — a clear sign that more outreach and treatment programs are needed territory-wide, according to one community expert.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires the count be conducted every two years for more federal funding to flow into the territory. In past years, teams of volunteers have hit various areas throughout both districts, an effort spearheaded by the V.I. Continuum of Care — a combination of private and government agencies that offer services to the homeless.
This year's count wrapped up at the end of January, with about 35 volunteers covering specific geographic areas on St. Thomas and about 22 volunteers covering St. Croix, according to Michael Akin, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Virgin Islands. Another set of volunteers also canvassed St. John, he said Monday.
"On St. Croix, the volunteers covered a good area, both in Christiansted and Frederiksted, and I think both of those areas were well counted," Akin said. "We were involved on St. John as well. Cruz Bay is an easier area to count, and I think people are fairly well aware of the homeless population in the area — it's the Coral Bay area that's been difficult in the past, so obviously we tried to get volunteers over there to identify the spots and count the people there, as well."
The final count revealed that there are 434 unsheltered homeless between the two districts, according to a Human Services news release. The count includes 218 homeless on St. Thomas, 181 on St. Croix and 65 on St. John.
"If you figure that we have a total territorial population of a large town or medium city in the States, that's a lot of homeless," Akin said. "It's a large portion of our population and that's a real reason for concern, so we have to figure out what we're doing now and what we can do in the future to arrest this trend. I think for the small population that we have, this should really be a wakeup call for the community to begin looking at ways to address this situation."
The final numbers are also not complete, he said.
"Over on St. Thomas, we sent out volunteers in groups of three, and made sure to ask them not to go outside those areas," Akin said. "People came back and reported to us that there were other homeless in the area, but they didn't have the opportunity to talk to them. That leads us to believe that there are more out there than we counted."
Substance abuse contributes to the problem.
"Another thing that was surprising — when we asked people why they were homeless, many of them who reported using drugs on several occasions also said they needed substance-abuse treatment and more programs that could be made available to them," Akin said.
The territory has received federal funds for prevention efforts in local high schools, but more is needed for mental health and substance-abuse treatment programs, Akin said.
Meanwhile, the local community has continued to contribute to the continuum's efforts, he said.
"We did have a great group of volunteers, and we would really like to thank them," he said. "On St. Thomas, we had people donating food to take out to the homeless and businesses supplying things like bread and cakes, so we really do thank the community for that kind of support."
A count of homeless individuals living in local shelters, along with those who are transitionally homeless, will be conducted in January 2010.
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