Lindsay Dent, program manager at The ARCHES Project, speaks with Nona Gilgen, right, and Lori Zamora, left, during the annual point in time count to assess homelessness, in Salem on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
The sun shone brightly as Lindsay Dent and Maggy Johnston trekked into muddy corners of northeast Salem Tuesday afternoon, searching for people who might be homeless.
Dent, program manager at The ARCHES Project, and Johnston, an outreach worker, were conducting an annual count mandated by the federal government to track data on homelessness.
The pair climbed muddy hills and skirted around fences to find people tucked away in corners near Interstate 5.
“How long have you been homeless?” Dent asked Katherine Reyes, a woman who was staying in a cluster of tents so close to the highway you could touch the cars.
Reyes told Salem Reporter she was laid off from her bartending job during the pandemic and was subsequently evicted.
She’s been homeless for the past year.
“It’s horrible, people look at us so bad because we don’t have a home,” she explained.
Reyes said she can’t stand outside a store down the street without people making negative comments based on her appearance.
“I probably served half of them drinks. Now, they don’t see me as the same person,” Reyes said.
Homeless camps next to I-5 in Salem on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Last year’s point in time count found there were 919 people experiencing homelessness in Salem on one night in January.
In Marion and Polk counties, there were 1,117 people, including those staying in shelters. The count is known to undercount the homeless population because of the difficulty locating people.
Last year, there were large camps at Wallace Marine Park, Cascades Gateway Park and under the Market Street overpass. Under state and federal guidelines, the city and Oregon Department of Transportation stopped homeless camp sweeps during the first year of the pandemic to avoid potentially spreading the virus further by displacing people.
Those camps were swept in the summer of 2021, which has led to more people camping in Marion Square Park and the further reaches of the city.
Dent and Johnston drove to vacant lot where they knew people had camped in the past.
Johnston trudged through the muddy path with bright pink boots but found that the camp had been cleared. An inquisitive cat accompanied the group back to the car.
Maggy Johnston, left, and Lindsay Dent, of The ARCHES Project, walk along Hawthorne Avenue while seeking out unhoused community members during the annual point in time count to assess homelessness, in Salem on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
The pair’s last stop was a field next a hotel in northeast Salem, where a couple of tents had been erected.
Dent pulled out her phone to track the series of questions she asked Lori Zamora through a counting app used by all the volunteers this year.
Zamora said she stays wherever she can find a place.
She’s been homeless on and off for the last couple months, she explained. She stayed at her cousin’s house and then her aunt’s but was kicked out of both, she said.
On Tuesday, she was hoping to find enough money to get a room at the hotel and take a shower.
Lindsay Dent, program manager at The ARCHES Project, speaks with Angel Rodriguez during the annual point in time count to assess homelessness, in Salem on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Maggy Johnston, of The ARCHES Project, carries a bag of supples to pass out while climbing down a retaining wall during the annual point in time count to assess homelessness, in Salem on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Lindsay Dent, program manager at The ARCHES Project, stops by a homeless camp during the annual point in time count to assess homelessness, in Salem on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Lindsay Dent, program manager at The ARCHES Project, speaks with Riva Salmela during the annual point in time count to assess homelessness, in Salem on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Lindsay Dent, program manager at The ARCHES Project, carries a bag of supplies to pass out during the annual point in time count to assess homelessness, in Salem on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Maggy Johnston, left, and Lindsay Dent, of The ARCHES Project, walk along Sunnyview Road while seeking out unhoused community members during the annual point in time count to assess homelessness, in Salem on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Contact reporter Saphara Harrell at 503-549-6250, [email protected].
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