publication date: Jan 31, 2009By Jonathan Copsey / STAFF / Beacon Media
The bitterly cold morning of January 23 saw two men walking through woods looking for something that turns out to be very rare in North Fulton. They were looking for the homeless.
As a part of the bi-annual Homeless Census Count, a national survey of the homeless, Alpharetta Police office Terry Joyner and Thomas Capitano, who works for Fulton County Human Services, visited many of the areas Joyner knew the homeless to live. For Capitano, this was his second year taking part in the census; he began helping in 2007 after he read “Homeless for the Holidays,” The Beacon’s article that year detailing the homeless camp near North Point Mall.
“I was floored,” said Capitano. “I honestly had no idea that there were homeless people living in the woods. These individuals are truly homeless. They are living in places not made for human habitation.”
It should perhaps be considered a blessing that the night had only five homeless people documented, although there was evidence of many more. “There was a tunnel where a female was living but no one has seen her in two weeks,” recounted Capitano. “We went to the tunnel and saw cushions and different junk that you could tell someone was living in it.”
Under census guidelines, only people seen by the counters can be counted. Also, unless accompanied – as Capitano was – by an officer no one was allowed out of their cars. It was a purely visual survey. This can create problems with the count, such as people living in areas not visible from the street, or those who are living in their cars. The woman who lived in the tunnel could not be counted because she was not seen. Despite the low numbers and fairly uneventful night, Capitano was pleased to have taken part. “It’s a great experience,” he said. “It really puts things in perspective. There are people here who don’t have the luxuries of life that we take for granted… I’ll definitely be doing it again next time.”
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