The results of this survey will be used to apply for competitive federal grants through the department of Housing and Urban development, or HUD. According to Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency’s housing resources director Beetle Barbour, the key word in the name of the federal department is urban; and that makes competing for these grants that much more difficult. Rural areas like Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties have a more difficult time in meeting the grant requirements. The Coalition has hired an outside expert to help in preparing the application giving the coalition the best chance for a positive result. Generally states Barbour a coalition, or area, would take several months to conduct the survey however, to meet deadlines the tri counties are on the fast track.

The survey also reveals some sobering statistics, especially when it comes to children. Another 141 children in the three counties are separated from their parents and living elsewhere — either in foster care or with friends or relatives — because their parents are homeless, said Barbour. "When all the data is in there will be some shocking figures," Barbour said. "This is a call to arms for social services, now there is a sense of obligation. Now that we know this is going on, our response needs to start."  The 24-hour survey was the second such count for Tuolumne County, and a first for Calaveras and Amador counties. Amador and Tuolumne counties have homeless shelters; Calaveras does not. The 70-plus county employees and volunteers who looked for homeless people to interview actually collected about 500 surveys, but 100 of them did not count according to Federal guidelines.

Those guidelines establish what conditions must be met for the application of the grant for which workers were collecting the data. Barbour states that the coalition will use the survey for the grant funding application, but she emphasizes the survey results will also be analyzed carefully and thoughtfully to work toward providing services for the homeless and indeed working toward the goal of eliminating homelessness from the Gold Country area. She is particularly interested in how many children under the age of 5 are included in the numbers and how many represent full families that are homeless. For more information, call ATCAA at 533-1397.