A new national report asserts that New Mexico, along with the rest of the country, has seen a decrease in homelessness since 2005. Local advocates, however, say the numbers don't reveal the true picture about people who are homeless here.

The "Homelessness Counts" report issued by the National Alliance to End Homelessness compares data collected in 2005 to data collected last year during a one-day counting event organized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It suggests the state has seen one of the best reductions in homelessness in the nation, with a 23 percent decrease in those identified by the "homeless census."

"The report is a little bit misleading," said Hank Hughes, director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness. "Basically, what we think is that 2005 was an overestimate and the 2007 was an underestimate, and we don't think the number really changed very much."

Hughes said the state coalition took over the counting project in 2007 from another group that counted the Albuquerque area separately, and the methodology for counting was different. Instead of only counting those people with whom workers spoke, counts in 2005 also included people who are known to be homeless but were not accounted for on the designated day that January, he said.

"Whenever you are counting homeless people, it's just very inaccurate," said Hughes. "It's really a challenge because HUD asks you to go out on one day and count who you see on one day. That is just not accurate, and there is not another accurate way."

Hughes said his feeling is homelessness probably has increased in Santa Fe recently because of the overall economic decline. The best indicator, he said, is the newly opened co-gender overflow shelter run by an interfaith alliance, which has seen a flood of needy residents.

Susan Odiseos, chairwoman of the Interfaith Community Shelter Group, said Tuesday that volunteers are serving dinner to between 50 and 74 people who then bed down on cots and mats in the shelter for the night. That's double to triple those who stayed last year each night during the winter at the Salvation Army, which no longer has an overnight shelter.

"There is a perception of the profile of a homeless person as being someone with a history of homelessness and not a good education and spotty jobs," she said. "But we are finding people who had bona fide, full-time employment whose hours were cut or their job was eliminated. ... While we still have the legions of the stereotypical homeless persons, the face of the homeless is changing."

According to the national report, the country has seen a 10 percent decrease in homelessness when data from all states are averaged. Nan Roman, president of the national alliance, said he attributes that to a hard-fought focus on providing housing for the homeless.

Hughes said that may be true in some cities, but New Mexico's efforts for the so-called "housing first" movement are not statistically significant yet.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.

HOMELESSNESS AMONG NEW MEXICANS

In 2007, 3,015 people were counted as homeless, including 711 who identified themselves as "chronically homeless." Of those people, 1,276 live in the Albuquerque area, and 1,739 live in the rest of the state.

Source: Homelessness Counts Report, National Alliance to End Homelessness