Volunteers Count Homeless In Rohnert Park, Cotati

ROHNERT PARK-COTATI, CA — A survey released Wednesday showed an increase in the number of homeless in Rohnert Park in early 2020 when compared with early 2019, while the number of homeless decreased in Cotati and was down by 7 percent across Sonoma County.

Sonoma County's 2020 Point-in-Time Homeless Count, taken Feb. 28, reported 2,745 people experiencing homelessness. The 2019 count, taken on Jan. 25, 2019, recorded 2,951 people.

The county postponed this year's count to the end of February because of the locally declared emergency regarding health and safety concerns around a large encampment of persons experiencing homelessness at the Joe Rodota Trail in Santa Rosa that required a coordinated county response.

Three-hundred trained volunteers and homeless guides took part in this year’s general street count which began during the early morning hours of Feb. 28. Consistent with previous years, volunteers did a visual and peer-informed count of unsheltered homeless people and families living on the streets and in vehicles, makeshift shelters, encampments, and other places not meant for human habitation.

Shelters and transitional housing facilities in Home Sonoma County’s annual Housing Inventory Chart also reported the number of homeless individuals and families who occupied their facilities on the night prior to the day of the count.

In the South County, this year's point-in-time count revealed 427 unsheltered homeless people across the cities of Cotati, Petaluma, Rohnert Park and unincorporated areas.

Volunteers counted 37 unsheltered homeless in Cotati, 241 in Rohnert Park, 133 in Petaluma and 16 in unincorporated areas of South County.

Volunteers counted 170 sheltered homeless people across the South County, compared to 142 in 2019.

During the 2019 count, there were 44 unsheltered homeless in Cotati and 114 unsheltered in Rohnert Park.

This year's count was taken before the local economy was hit by COVID-19, Susan Gorin, chair of the Board of Supervisors, noted in a statement. It's unclear how the pandemic may have contributed to the numbers of homeless people in the county since then.

Regardless, "This year's point-in-time count demonstrates that Sonoma County's efforts to provide shelter for some of our most vulnerable residents are moving us in the right direction," Gorin said.

According to an announcement from the county, the overall reduction in the number of homeless people was due to several factors.

These include an injection of more than $11 million from the Board of Supervisors to fund the Los Guilicos Village campus, shared housing and master leasing options, as well as increased funding from the State of California and intensive outreach and care coordination of critical services by the County's Accessing Coordinated Care & Empowering Self-Sufficiency initiative, the county said.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.