By Debbie Kelley | SOURCE: THE GAZETTE
For the second time, a yearly census to determine how many homeless people are living in El Paso County on a given night will hire helpers who are familiar with life on the streets to do the counting.
Debra Stilen will be among those conducting the Point in Time survey that begins on Monday, a process required by the United States Department of Urban Housing and Development for communities to receive federal funding for programs and services for homeless people.
After 20 years of homelessness, Stilen entered transitional housing last year. She was ready. But many of her friends are not.
“What I find is a lot of them want to be counted, but people who are homeless are so used to being abused or bullied or negative aspects when it comes to anybody in an office,” she said. “Most of these people already know me, they know I was in their shoes and find it a little easier to talk to me. They’re my family.”