Nevada County’s homeless count, conducted earlier this year, has been finalized. And there are some variations from numbers released in February, plus some unreleased information. The point-in-time count was conducted by the Homeless Resource Council of the Sierras. Spokesman Scott Thurmond says the final number is 410, compared to the 404 released by the county. It was 272 in 2018. Thurmond says that doesn’t necessarily mean a major spike in homelessness here, that the current number is more realistic…

Thurmond says 39-percent of those counted were not living in shelters. And 28 families were experiencing homelessness…

35 veterans are experiencing homelessness. The count also reveals that 80-percent of the people counted had lived in Nevada County for at least a year before becoming homeless. 34-percent are described as chronically homeless, or for more than a year. And 21-percent have a serious mental illness. The count, conducted on January 24th, is considered vital to continuing the flow of government funding.