Preliminary statistics from a survey conducted by the Carrollton Housing Authority show an increase in the number of homeless people in Carroll County, though Housing Authority Director Sandra Morris said the actual amount of homeless in the county is much higher.

Of the 143 surveys completed by those at the Carroll County Emergency Shelter, The Manna House, the Carroll County Soup Kitchen and the 415 Hope Shelter, 83 people admitted they were homeless. These numbers are low even among those who filled out a survey, as they reflect only those who are self-professed homeless and not those who would be classified as such because of their housing situation.

For instance, a person may say they’re not homeless because they live in a house with another family. But under the definition used in the survey, anyone living rent-free in a house that they don’t own would be considered homeless.

The county numbers will soon be sent to Kennesaw State University where the data will be sorted in accordance with the working definition of homelessness, giving local Housing Authority officials a better understanding of the problem in the county.

Even now, though, it’s clear the numbers are under reported, Morris said.

On top of those who filled out a survey, Carroll County and Carrollton city schools identified nearly 500 students who are homeless, suggesting the county total of homeless residents is actually in the thousands.

Last year’s total of homeless residents in the county, according to a survey conducted in January 2008, was only 108.

Despite figures that show nearly a six-fold gain from last year to the present, current misrepresentation of the actual number of homeless will ultimately prevent the state from receiving its share of federal money to combat homelessness, Morris said.

“It’s very important because if we don’t document these numbers, the state of Georgia doesn’t get federal homeless money,” she said. “We should have gotten twice that number. I know because the homeless come here. I think the numbers are very unrealistic.”

The problem in trying to get an accurate local count is twofold. With the exception of the public schools, the Housing Authority had little cooperation from outside agencies this year. Area law enforcement agencies largely reported simply not encountering that many homeless residents on a daily basis.

Perhaps more importantly, though, the stigma that surrounds homelessness in small towns and the chill of winter, pushes many out of plain site and into buildings like public libraries, hospital waiting rooms and abandoned warehouses. Loretta North, assistant director at the Housing Authority, said she encountered many people who admitted they were homeless spending time in area gas stations to keep out of the cold.

Regardless of where they sleep at night, 2009 numbers show that homelessness does not discriminate. In administering the surveys, Housing Authority employees encountered people from a wide range of backgrounds, ages and ethnicities, and in speaking with them on a one-on-one basis, the employees discovered that the circumstances that forced these people into homelessness could not at all be generalized.

As the stereotype suggests, many did have problems with drugs and alcohol. At the same time, however, many didn’t. Some suffered from mental illness. Some had lost their job and simply had no place to stay, and some had family that no longer wanted anything to do with them.

Those who filled out surveys received information about where to get food and how to apply for public housing. But many more didn’t fill out a survey and didn’t receive this information, Morris said, preventing them from helping themselves and preventing the state from receiving the funds necessary to help them down the road.

“I just expected it to be a really tremendous number this year,” she said “It is so important because the federal government gives the state of Georgia money for this kind of stuff, and I think a lot of people just don’t understand how important it is.”