496.

According to statistics gathered during Kitsap County’s annual Point in Time Count earlier this year, that’s how many people who could be classified as homeless in Kitsap County.

The Kitsap Continuum of Care Coalition — a collection of private and public social-services agencies in the county — reported the figures, which are to be part of an updated Kitsap Homeless Housing Plan presented to the Board of County Commissioners by the end of this year.

While the numbers of homeless individuals help define the problem in Kitsap County, it’s not the whole story.

Kirsten Jewell, human services coordinator with the county’s Housing and Homelessness program as administered by the Department of Human Services, said the number of homeless identified is probably low.

“There’s definitely an undercount because we don’t have data from people who are not seeking services,” Jewell said.

Jewell said two-thirds of the people in Kitsap County seeking services and attempting to get stable housing have been homeless less than a month. She said that’s why the count is emphasized as being done “at a point in time.”

Where are the homeless?

The pervasive stereotype of a homeless individual is a disheveled man sitting at an urban street corner bumming for cash. It’s actually far more complicated to delineate that population, Jewell said.

“There are a lot of myths about homelessness,” she said. “The chronic homeless person on a street corner is just a small percentage of the population. Regardless of their situation or circumstance, we consider anyone who doesn’t have stable housing to be homeless.”

She defines stable housing as a situation in which the housing is permanent and self-supporting.

It’s much more likely, Jewell said, that a homeless person is employed — often working two part-time jobs — and still unable to secure permanent shelter. Some of those homeless people are single moms struggling to support children after a divorce, abandonment by a partner or a break from family.

Jennifer Hardison, executive director of South Kitsap Helpline, said many of those who use her agency’s services are “people who have had unexpected events in their lives that have greatly affected their lives.”

Hardison said her organization, dominated by a large food bank, has a steady stream of chronically homeless people who visit but are unable to fully take advantage of her agency’s services.

“They don’t have a place to store items that we give out,” she said. “We’ve developed a “lunch box” program for the chronically homeless where they can pick up a meal they can take with them and eat later.”

Food, or the inability to buy it, is often “the tip of the iceberg,” Hardison said. “There are some underlying issues like not being able to find better paying jobs, not having adequate transportation to get to their work, or medical issues.”

Those singular issues can sabotage a homeless person’s efforts to rise above their homelessness. Even a small sum of money — $80 — can mean the difference between having a steady income and not having a job.

Hardison said a man arrived some time ago at the food bank asking for help.

Two years before, his wife had suffered an brain aneurism and he was forced to quit his full-time job to care for her. Because of that medical calamity, the couple lost their house. He placed all of his possessions in a storage unit and was forced to sleep on his son’s couch. In order to renew his commercial truck license, the truck driver needed a medical physical exam.

“The exam cost $80 — money he didn’t have,” she said. “This homeless man said ‘I don’t even have $80 so I can get back to work.’ We were able to help him with financial aid from (Helpline’s) financial assistance fund so he could get that physical.”

‘God provides’

Tina Jeu, director of family services for St. Vincent de Paul’s thrift shop in Port Orchard, sees the effects of homelessness every day at her store on Bay Street.

“We have some of the homeless sleeping in front of the store in the morning,” said Jeu, who is a longtime leader of the faith-based organization in the area. “The perception shared by lots of people that homelessness doesn’t exist in the county is just wrong. We see it every day.”

Jeu has set up a small “general store” inside the thrift shop that caters only to those who don’t have housing. She said the store “fills in the gap that other agencies can’t.” It dispenses personal-hygiene items and even cold water bottles.

Because St. Vincent’s is a private, faith-based concern, it is free from governmental regulations that restrict public agencies. “We require very little from them,” Jeu said of the homeless. “We’re not federally funded. We receive money from the church and the community. It’s all very grassroots for us.”Some of the homeless live secluded lives by choice and circumstance.

“I have a gentleman who lives in the woods and survives in a secluded spot. He’ll come in for something hot in the morning. We offer him a packaged cup of soup and zap it in the microwave.”

Some of the chronic homeless who fend for themselves by living outside are subject to less-than-kind behavior by others.

“I found a man crying on one of my benches because somebody had taken a knife and torn up his tent he used to sleep in,” Jeu said. “This person took his sleeping bag and cooking utensils. Everything he owned in this world was taken from him.”

Jeu said staff found a sleeping bag and some cooking items in the thrift store and gave it to the man.

The family services director said they don’t keep track of the numbers of homeless people — “We’re not into that” — but believes the thrift store and its little supply store averages about 20 customers a week.

She said community donations are a godsend. “If someone needs something, we just get it for them. I can get blankets or clothing for them. “

While her services might pale in comparison to what government and community agencies can potentially do for the homeless, Jeu knows that the future is not in her hands.

“We know that God is taking care of his children. Sometimes we’ll get an item brought into the store and we’ll say, ‘why did we get that?’ and then, before you know it, we find a need for it.

“I love helping people,” Jue said with a smile. “It’s the greatest reward anyone can have.”

The Independent will continue this ongoing series on homelessness in South Kitsap County and Port Orchard in future issues.