Homeless are hard to count during winter

A wide-ranging effort last week to count the number of homeless people in Carson City turned up enough to show it is a significant problem here, but we think it's far more prevalent than the count indicated.

Only a couple dozen homeless people were found (although the full, official number won't be known for while). That's not for lack of effort on the part of 50 or so volunteers and Sheriff's Department deputies. They spent hours combing alleys, Dumpsters and known haunts, even flying overhead to see if they could spot homeless camps.

That they found anyone at all is somewhat remarkable. That a homeless count was conducted nationwide in January for the purposes of federal Housing and Urban Development money is, at the least, misleading.

It was a good idea to conduct such a count. And the reason for doing it in January, according to federal officials, is that winter is when homeless people have the greatest needs.

But it's also when they're hardest to locate - especially in Northern Nevada, or anywhere else subject to cold, snow and ice.

They may be homeless, but they're not stupid. Anyone able to travel would have headed south for warmer climes months ago. Whole families who must camp out year-round because they can't afford to pay rent would have relocated or found some way to escape winter weather.

What makes us think there are far more homeless in Carson City than might be counted on a January day?

We've been to the Carson River east of town in the summer, when the banks are teeming with camps. We've seen the tents (or cardboard boxes) pitched in the sagebrush along the western foothills.

To get a handle on the problem, officials and aid organizations need to know its true scope. Homeless' needs may be greatest in winter, but their numbers will be deceptively small - and that could translate into less help, not more.