Agencies serving homeless veterans say it is difficult to count them

Agencies serving county’s homeless say population is difficult to count
Ocala Star Banner
By Andy Fillmore
Correspondent
Published: Saturday, October 26, 2013

The number of homeless veterans living in Marion County varies depending on who you ask.

Art Skelton, a veteran of the Vietnam War, disagrees with the figures published by the Marion County Homeless Council.

The council’s January “Point In Time” census indicates a total of 503 people countywide were considered homeless. Of those, 120, or 23 percent, served in the military.

“The numbers on homeless veterans are way wrong. Many vets live in the (Ocala National) Forest. I was living in the woods near Citra until the Veterans Administration got me in here because of the veteran program,” said Skelton, a Marine Corps veteran who is living at the Salvation Army Center of Hope.

Dan Horton, executive director of the Marion County Homeless Council, said the numbers of homeless overall are likely up to “double.”

The council’s information coordinator, Thom Thomas, who went into the field to make some of the counts, said the figures are probably low.

“For the in-town counts, we appreciate the help of the Ocala Police Department, but the homeless persons probably shied away from them,” Thomas said.
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