MOSES LAKE — The number of unsheltered homeless people in Grant County dropped between 2020 and 2022, according to an annual survey conducted by local social service agencies.

“It’s lower than what it was in 2020,” said Stephanie Pacheco, homeless program foreman for the Housing Authority of Grant County.

The annual Point in Time Count, which establishes a count of homeless individuals within the county, identifies homeless individuals in two categories, sheltered and unsheltered. According to county documentation, unsheltered individuals are those living in vehicles, RVs, outdoors, abandoned vehicles or fleeing domestic violence they would face at home. Those staying in temporary lodging such as motels via motel vouchers, emergency shelters and transitional housing were considered to be sheltered homeless individuals. The report is required by the Washington Department of Commerce, and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The 2022 Point in Time Count, which was conducted Feb. 24, found 64 people classified as living in an unsheltered situation. The 2020 survey identified about 140 people with that same classification. The overall reduction was 76 fewer unsheltered individuals.

The 2022 survey also found 68 homeless people living in what are designated as sheltered conditions.

The report issued with the survey said the vast majority of homeless in Grant County, 97%, were residents of the county before they became homeless.

“This data debunks the popular myth that most homeless in Grant County are from other parts of the state or that homeless are being bused to Moses Lake,” the report said.

The three most common reasons people are homeless, it said, are people getting away from domestic violence, losing their house or being evicted or substance abuse.

About half of the homeless, 52%, reported some kind of disabling condition. Those included physical disabilities, chronic substance abuse, addiction or a developmental disability, behavioral health concerns or similar issues.

Six children in four families were among the unsheltered homeless in the 2022 survey. Most homeless people are adults, according to the survey.

Demographically, 70% of those included in the survey were white, 23% were Hispanic and 14% chose not to answer that portion of the survey.

Of the people who participated in the survey, 115 live in the Moses Lake area, seven in Soap Lake, four in Grand Coulee and three each in Ephrata and the Quincy-George areas. No homeless people were reported living in Warden, Mattawa or Royal City.

Pacheco said Moses Lake has more job openings and more services available for homeless people, and as a result attracts more homeless.

The COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2021 survey and delayed it in 2022. Efforts to mitigate the pandemic may have played a role in reducing homelessness, Pacheco said. A moratorium on evictions was instituted during the pandemic, and that may have helped some people stay in a home.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].