LA GRANDE — Shortly before 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 24, a line started forming outside the Union County Senior Center, La Grande.

The weather was mild for the end of January and people were lining up for an important reason. They were waiting to attend the Union County Houseless Resource Fair and take part in the county’s 2024 point-in-time count, according to Alex Rees, a self-sufficiency coordinator for Community Connection of Northeast Oregon.

“It’s been a really good turnout,” she said.

The houseless resource fair serves two important purposes — getting resources into the hands of those who need them and tallying the number of people experiencing homelessness in the county, Assistant Director of Community Connection Jeff Hensley said.

A community effort

First, the fair is an opportunity to connect people who are experiencing homelessness with community resources. Representatives from a wide variety of organizations — such as the Center for Human Development, Shelter From the Storm, Union County Warming Station and the Northeast Oregon Housing Authority — set up tables at the event.

Both Hensley and Rees agreed that all of the agencies are vital to the success of the fair.

“This wouldn’t happen without everybody,” Hensley said.

Rees added that members of the community also contributed — helping to get the space ready by setting up tables and chairs.

“It’s a community effort,” she said.

The resource fair offers staff members at Community Connection a chance to build relationships and trust with people experiencing homelessness. It’s also an opportunity to offer a warm meal while handing out shelf-stable food, supplies like backpacks, hygiene products, sleeping bags and tents, and cold-weather clothing essentials like coats, hats and gloves.

Getting a head count

Secondly, the fair is where the annual Union County point-in-time count is taken for Union County. The count tallies those who can be officially categorized as homeless — anyone who was living in a motel, out of a car, on the street or in an RV without running water or power.

The survey asks questions like “Where are you sleeping on the night of the count?” “Is this the first time you have been homeless?” and “How many months did you stay in shelter or on the streets over the past three years?”

Rees said the survey is confidential. If someone filling out the information is hesitant to answer a specific question, they can provide a more general answer, such as giving their initials rather than their full name or simply answering with their age rather than their complete date of birth.

Rees added that if someone is especially hesitant, they can skip a question entirely.

This year 58 homeless individuals filled out the point-in-time survey at the resource fair, Rees said. This was close to double the number of surveys collected in 2023 during the fair. Community Connection surpassed last year’s number of 34 surveys within 30 minutes of the doors opening.

This is also just the number of people who filled out the survey at the fair and not the final number reported to the state. Anyone who Community Connection helped shelter through hotel vouchers on Jan. 24 was added to the point-in-time count. Surveys were also available at the Union County Warming Station.

The assistant director attributed this year’s increase in part to Community Connection’s increased push to get the word out that the fair was happening. Hensley said that a lot of people were telling him that they heard more about the event this year than in years past.

He also thought that the warm weather likely helped drive participation. The maximum temperature in La Grande on Jan. 24 was 51 degrees, which broke the record high for that day, according to the National Weather Service.

A growing problem

The resource fair created a mixture of emotions in Rees and Hensley.

On one hand, Hensley said, it was great to see the change in people’s faces as they walked away with supplies. And it is important to get an accurate count to know what the need is within the community.

The point-in-time count is part of the formula that determines how much money Community Connection receives to fund its regular programs that support homeless and low-income individuals and families.

However, it also was a somber moment because it showcased just how many people in the county need help.

The problem isn’t getting any smaller either. Between 2020 and 2022, Union County’s official tally of homeless individuals was between 13 and 14, according to point-in-time count data.

Homelessness has been a growing problem across Northeast Oregon and the state as a whole.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development groups together 26 rural Oregon counties into what is called the Rural Continuum of Care or the Oregon Balance of State, Rees said. The group includes Baker, Grant, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties.

Across all 26 counties, 5,365 people reported being homeless during last year’s point-in-time count, according to HUD’s 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment to Congress.

Oregon as a whole experienced one of the largest increases in the number of people experiencing homelessness between 2007 and 2023 — growing 64.5%, according to the report. In 2023, the state reported 20,142 people —16,242 individuals and 3,900 people in families with children — were experiencing homelessness with 66% of people surveyed saying they were staying in unsheltered locations. HUD reported that Oregon ranked highly for both people in families and unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness.

Not the full picture

The point-in-time count shows the number of people experiencing homelessness in a specific area on a single night, but people involved with the effort say it’s an undercount.

Many of the challenges in getting an accurate count are not specific to Union County or even the state as a whole. Others, like geography and weather, are specific to the area.

Hensley said that in the past the point-in-time count was conducted on two days at different points in the year — March and November. Going back to twice a year or even just changing what time of year the count is done could help get a more accurate count.

Rees said that if she had a magic wand, there wouldn’t be the need to do a count at all.