About 300 volunteers gathered at five locations in Santa Barbara County at 5 a.m. Wednesday to participate in the annual Point in Time count, which tracks the county’s homeless population.

The count occurs nationwide during the last 10 days of January and is a requirement by the federal government in order for the county to obtain funds for housing programs according to Jett Black-Maertz, a housing program specialist for the Santa Barbara County Housing and Community Development Division. It is also used to track trends that can help the county determine how to best serve the homeless population.

On Wednesday, volunteers checked in, were sent out in groups of six to different locations, and then paired off to count those experiencing homelessness. The count takes place from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. because people are more stationary and less likely to be counted twice.

“Duplication is always a difficult thing to control for,” Black-Maertz said. “So, we do 5 to 7 a.m. because people are most likely to be stationary at that point.”

Volunteers also take the initials and birthday of each person counted to avoid counting a person twice.

Volunteers ask each homeless person a series of questions and offer them packs of tissues, socks, snacks and other essentials. 

In addition to the data being required to secure funding for the county, it also helps disprove misconceptions that people may have about homelessness.

A misconception that community members brought forth within the county was the assumption that Santa Barbara County was a magnet for the homeless population because of the resources offered. However, according to Black-Maertz, the responses from previous Point in Time counts show that 78% of those experiencing homelessness had their last permanent address in Santa Barbara County. 

“They’re not coming to our area for the services,” Black-Maertz said.

Black Maertz said the data collected will help dispel the myth that the county is a magnet for people experiencing homelessness. By figuring out how and where people lost their housing, the county is able to better target services to prevent homelessness in the first place.

Another misconception is the belief that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased homelessness in the county. However, that belief is not reflected in the data, according to Rich Sander, executive director at SB Act who has been an organizer for the count in years past.

“Nothing has really increased that much,” Sander said. “We’ve about maintained at the same level, plus or minus some, which is good that it’s not growing, but we want to see it go down.”

Sean Quinn, a volunteer for the count, was homeless on and off for five years until 2020. Quinn said he recalls when volunteers approached him during previous counts while he was experiencing homelessness. 

“Waking up to somebody just handing you gloves and a snack, maybe a couple bucks? It meant a lot,” Quinn said. “I could never understand why people would do that where I was at in my life at that point. And now, seeing from the other side it makes sense.

“Being on the other side? And looking into that world from the outside? It’s really sad. All those people, you know, all these people just don’t have anything. They don’t have anyone. That’s the sad thing. So just being able to, you know, help another stranger out of the kindness of their heart. I think that’s really powerful.”

Quinn said he lived in his car before living on the street for two years. As a teenager, he also experienced homelessness. He said he would sleep in a tent by the river, and move throughout the city with his backpack and pillow.

“A lot of times, certain places I would go to treated me like an animal,” Quinn said.

After being hospitalized, Quinn went to the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, where he was able to get resources he needed to get back on his feet and reconnect with his family. He now works at a tech company in downtown Santa Barbara.

Quinn said he believes there’s a broad generalization about homelessness, that it is something that cannot be fixed and, therefore, is an issue that often goes ignored. 

“These are people, you know? They’re their own community in their own way,” he said, “and most of them aren’t bad people. They’re just on bad luck.

“It’s always nice to know that somebody cares.”