Nevada County’s annual homeless count saw a modest drop from the previous year. It was conducted, this year, on the night of January 25th. Samuel Holmes is the Executive Director of the Homeless Resource Council of the Sierras, which also covers Placer County. He says a minimum of 496 sheltered and unsheltered individuals were counted here, compared to 527 a year ago…

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Holmes says the count is required, in order to gauge how much government funding is awarded each year, as well as how to best utilize resources. In Placer County, the count was also down, or from 750 to 709. As for their circumstances in Nevada County, Holmes says 50 individuals were self-identified as survivors of domestic violence, 27 as veterans, 28 as unaccompanied youth, and 209 living with a mental disability…

click to listen to Samuel Holmes

30-percent in Nevada County were also identified as chronically homeless. People experiencing chronic homelessness are living with a mental illness, substance abuse disorders, physical disabilities or other medical conditions, and have been unhoused for one year currently or repeatedly over the last three years. 227 were unsheltered.