A Deep Dive Into Tuolumne County’s Homeless Efforts

Photo taken by: Tracey Petersen

Tuolumne County Supervisors have recently bought several properties to deal with the homelessness issue. In talking to people in the community, Clarke Broadcasting learned that there are still a lot of questions regarding these properties. To give us those answers, our guests are Tuolumne County Homeless Services Coordinator Michael Roberson and Annie Hocket, Agency Director for Health & Human Services Agency. They will discuss how the different properties will operate, their cost to maintain them, what those living there will be required to do, and dispel some misinformation regarding the county’s homeless effort.

With statistics showing 800 homeless individuals in the county and less than three percent coming from outside areas, Roberson details an alarming trend, stating, “Across the state and the country, we were seeing more and more seniors, so people over 60 years old who are living in their cars because they can’t afford housing, based on Social Security income. And even if they have disability income, which can be a little bit more, it’s not enough. So, yeah, it is a trend that is increasing, and it’s a sad testimony as to what is going on in our community as well.”