Overnight count tracks McHenry County homeless population

Andrew Turner knows where he can find McHenry County’s homeless residents even in the middle of January.

As Warp Corps’ homeless and street outreach supervisor, he works with those who live on the street, helping them get access to services. Turner also didn’t expect to find many of them out on Thursday night during the Point in Time Count.

The annual survey is a collective effort among the agencies in the McHenry County Continuum of Care to End Homelessness, according to Sam Tenuto, executive director of the Youth Services Bureau of Illinois Valley. The headcount generated by the survey “is used for federal, state and county strategic planning to best align services to help those suffering from homelessness and strengthen our community,” Tenuto said.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires the point-in-time count, at minimum, every other year. The agencies must also hold an annual a Housing Inventory Count, documenting the number of people staying in residential resources for the homeless.

Turner has been working with Warp Corp, a Woodstock-based nonprofit focused on substance abuse, suicide prevention and homelessness, since 2021. He was also participated in the point-in-time count for the third year.

Last year, Turner said he did not connect with any of Woodstock’s homeless on the night of the count, but not for lack of trying. The count is held overnight, when most of those they are looking for have turned in for the night.

He stopped by Woodstock’s homeless encampment, also known as Tent City, but did not plan to knock on any tent flaps.

“I have mixed feelings about waking people up,” Turner said.

Teams spread out across the county, with some groups taking on several towns and a few, just one. Volunteers – a dozen or so – were sent to Crystal Lake, Huntley/Lake in the Hills/Algonquin/Marengo, McHenry, Fox River Grove/Cary, and Johnsburg/Spring Grove. Turner had the Woodstock/Harvard route.

Tenuto, who organized the teams, hosted a video call at 11:30 p.m. Thursday with those going out. He asked every team to text him at the end of the night, and to put their safety first when going into the known encampments.

He was also on the road, taking the Huntley/Lake in the Hills/Algonquin/Marengo section. Tenuto noted he added routes to check from previous years “based on my own knowledge” of where to find people.

One surveyor passed out her cellphone number to the group, offering her help for any Spanish translations.

Turner started by picking up a reporter at a Woodstock restaurant parking lot and recognized a van there as one belonging to an area homeless man. Because Turner did not have one-on-one contact with the person, counting him on the survey was iffy, but he did fill out an observation form, part of the needed documentation.

Other spots he checked included parks, a Metra station, 24-hour laundromats, the Woodstock Square, and behind other businesses along Route 47.

“We meet these people where they are at and we build these relationships.”

—  Andrew Turner, Warp Corps' homeless and street outreach supervisor

That’s where Turner ran into Anthony Verela. Verela wouldn’t tell a reporter his age, but said he’d been on the streets since he was 15 on the West Side of Chicago. Back then he’d stay in abandoned buildings, Verela said.

“I am out there all day, standing in that all day,” Verela said of his life now.

He also quoted Bob Marley. “People who make the world worse never take a day off. If I want to make it better I am staying awake,” Verela said.

Verela is someone Turner has built a relationship with over the years.

“We meet these people where they are at and we build these relationships. At the end of the day we are out there to help people,” he said.

Results from the overnight count may not be released for several months Turner said. He knows that Warp Corp, from Dec. 1, 2023, to Nov. 30, 2024, had unduplicated contact with 177 individuals. Those individuals are a mix of those who have substance abuse disorders, are homeless or are at a high risk for homelessness, Turner said.

“Our work encapsulates a broad spectrum of hardships, those who are struggling pretty bad,” Turner said.