PORT ANGELES — Clallam County’s population of homeless people may rise in 2009 — when the official definition of homelessness widens to include some people who already are sheltered.

The annual Point in Time census of people who have no safe and stable place to live will take place Jan. 29, conducted by volunteers from Serenity House and other private and public agencies.

The number had dropped from 1,055 in 2006 to 807 in 2007 and to 765 last winter.

But members of the Shelter Providers Network — a coalition of more than 50 agencies — learned Tuesday that the 2009 census must include people in permanent supportive housing.

Permanent supportive housing provides both shelter and assistance to people with physical or mental disorders that may include substance abuse.

One such shelter recently opened in The Tempest Building, formerly Aggie’s Motel, at 535 E. First St.

HUD mandates change

Nick Mondau of the Olympia office of the state Community, Trade and Economic Development addressed the network’s monthly meeting and explained the change.

Including permanent supportive housing in the homeless definition was the mandate of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, he said.

The census will count people in such housing, but not collect their names or personal data, Mondau said.

They will join the census of people traditionally designated as homeless who include those living in vehicles, substandard buildings and emergency shelters; persons who are “couch surfing” at the homes of friends or relatives; and people in transitional housing.

Transitional housing is provided by agencies such as Serenity House for individuals and families who are on their way to acquiring regular permanent housing.

Free food, pet care

The Point in Time census uses a variety of techniques to tally people who may be invisible to traditional censuses.

Tactics include offering free lunches and dinners; interviewing people at social service agencies, emergency rooms and free clinics; visiting places where homeless persons are known to gather; giving away personal hygiene items; even providing free pet food and veterinary services.

Actual night-time street counts have found fewer people since the Serenity House Street Outreach Shelter opened in 2006 and found a permanent home last April at 520 E. First St.

Other communities use other methods. Seattle, for instance, counts people as they sleep in shelters or on the streets.

Mondau called Clallam County “a model area for how the count goes.”

Kathy Wahto, Serenity House executive director, said Point in Time volunteers try to do more than simply count people.

“We’re trying to count, but we’re also trying to connect,” she said. “We want to do more if we can. We give them connections to services.”

The slogan for the census — which Wahto admitted had been copied from a similar count in Spokane — is “In Clallam County, everybody counts.”

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Reporter Jim Casey can be reached at 360-417-3538 or at jim.casey@peninsuladailynews.com.