City officials were expecting a new census to show an increase in the number of homeless people in Lawrence. But the results, released Thursday, showed a slight drop from 143 in 1998 to 134 in December.
Not everybody thought the numbers were correct.
95 were men; 39 were women.
89 were white; 15 were black; 11 were American Indian; and 19 were from other racial groups or their race was unknown.
39 were known to have mental or physical disabilities.
11 were single parents; 18 children were reported.
17 said they were homeless because of domestic violence.
26 said Lawrence was the location of their last home. Seven were from Topeka; Six from Kansas City; the rest from other places.
"I think they're unrealistically low," said Saunny Scott, former president of Lawrence Open Shelter.
In fact, agencies serving the poor and homeless say they're serving more people than ever.
"These are a lot of the working poor," said Joe Alford, coordinator of the Jubilee Caf
The program, which serves a free breakfast on Tuesdays and Fridays at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1011 Vt., is moving Jan. 25 to the roomier First United Methodist Church, 946 Vt., to accommodate a growing number of guests.
In 2000, the caferved an average of 70 meals a day. That number increased sharply late in 2001, to more than 100 meals a day in December.
Salvation Army Capt. Carolyn Schuetz said more people are sleeping at her organization's seasonal shelter. That program averaged 27 people a night in December 2000; that number rose to 34 last month. Many nights, she said, more than 40 people use the shelter.
"We're seeing more families, we're seeing more children," Schuetz said. "Last year, we didn't see whole families it's just a different population of homeless people this year."
The census was taken over four days in December. Officials said it was the most comprehensive count of Lawrence homeless in memory.
But, they said, a few people probably slipped through the cracks.
Many homeless people avoided taking the survey, officials said, or weren't around when it was taken.
"I feel there are more that were uncounted," said Gary Miller, chairman of Lawrence Coalition for Homeless Concerns. "There are quite a few that don't come into town, that may live at the lake or on the river."
In any case, Miller noted, the numbers don't exactly show Lawrence's homeless population has disappeared.
"One hundred and thirty four people," he said, "is still a significant amount."
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