GLIDE. ALL RIGHT, WELL, EVERY CITY IN AMERICA TRIES TO GET AN ACCURATE COUNT OF THE NUMBER OF UNHOUSED PEOPLE, BUT REALLY FEW REC RECORD THEIR DEATHS. >> ALAMEDA COUNTY HAS BEEN ANALYZING HOMELESS DEATHS SINCE 2018. AND THERE'S A REASON THEY DO THAT. >> YEAH. ABC SEVEN NEWS REPORTER LYANNE MELENDEZ IS HERE WITH. WHY RECORDING DEATHS? LEANNE CAN ACTUALLY HELP SAVE LIVES. >> YEAH, WELL, WHEN YOU KNOW THE WHY. AND WHO ARE THE PEOPLE DYING ON THE STREETS, THEN YOU TRY TO COME UP WITH A STRATEGY, A PLAN, RIGHT, TO HELP THEM. AND JUST A HANDFUL OF COUNTIES IN THIS COUNTRY ARE DOING THIS. ALAMEDA COUNTY IS ONE OF THE FIRST TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION, NOT ONLY OUT OF NECESSITY, BUT OUT OF RESPECT FOR THOSE DYING HOMELESS. THE WAY THE UNHOUSED CONGREGATE VARIES FROM CITY TO CITY. SOME OF OAKLAND'S ENCAMPMENTS SEEM SOMEWHAT SECLUDED AWAY FROM DISAPPROVING EYES. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE GET IN THEIR CARS TO COMMUTE TO WORK EVERY DAY, NOT KNOWING THAT UNDER THESE FREEWAYS ARE COMMUNITIES OF UNHOUSED PEOPLE. FOR MANY HERE IN OAKLAND, THIS IS THEIR REFUGE. >> IT'S BASICALLY A SAFE PLACE FOR ME BECAUSE I KNOW EVERYBODY AROUND HERE, SO I DON'T HAVE TO REALLY WORRY ABOUT NOBODY TRYING TO STEAL NOTHING FROM ME OR WHATEVER. >> STONIS ARRINGTON WAS BORN AND RAISED IN WEST OAKLAND, A SHORT DISTANCE FROM WHERE HE NOW CALLS HOME. HE'S BEEN HOMELESS FOR THREE YEARS. IS THERE ANY HOPE COMING FROM YOU TO SOMEDAY GET OUT OF THIS SITUATION? YES. >> THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT KEEPS ME GOING IS HOPE AND PRAYER. >> I'M BILLY BOB. >> BILLY BOB LIVES IN AN RV AND IS THE OWNER OF THIS PILE OF GOODS. HE'S BEEN UNHOUSED SINCE 1988. THE WHY IS IRRELEVANT, HE TELLS US. WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS THAT HE'S LEARNED TO ADJUST. >> GOD FULFILLED HIS PROMISE. THREE SCORES AND TEN. >> THREE SCORES AND TEN IS A BIBLICAL TERMS, MEANING A LIFE EXPECTANCY OF 70 YEARS OLD. BILLY BOB IS 71. BUT FOR THOSE LIVING ON THE STREETS IN ALL OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, THE AVERAGE AGE OF THOSE WHO DIE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS IS 52. MOST ARE MALE AND AFRICAN AMERICAN, 351 UNHOUSED PEOPLE DIED HERE IN 2022. THOSE ARE THE MOST RECENT NUMBERS COMPILED CARDIAC HYPERTENSION, DIABETES. >> LIVER DISEASE, CANCERS. STROKE. >> DRUG OVERDOSES ARE ALSO A FACTOR. HOW DO THEY KNOW THIS? DAVE MOSEBACH WORKS FOR THE ALAMEDA COUNTY HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS PROGRAM. >> WE DID DATA MATCHING TO FIND OUT HOW MANY PEOPLE WHO DIED IN ALAMEDA COUNTY WERE ALSO HOMELESS, KNOWN TO BE HOMELESS. AND THEN WE ALSO LOOKED AT DEATH RECORDS TO SEE IF THERE WERE CLUES, DIED IN A DUMPSTER, DIED BEHIND ON THE STREETS IN A TENT ENCAMPMENT, UNSHELTERED. >> AND THAT INFORMATION HELPS TO AVOID UNNECESSARY DEATHS AND DETERMINE THE KINDS OF TREATMENTS NEEDED TO SAVE LIVES. LUCY KASDIN DIRECTS THE PROGRAM. >> I'M LIKE, REALLY BRINGING CARE AND INCREASING ACCESS TO CARE FOR THIS COMMUNITY. SO BRINGING THAT SERVICE DIRECTLY TO PEOPLE WHERE THEY WHERE, WHERE THEY LIVE, RIGHT, AS OPPOSED TO THEM HAVING TO LEAVE THEIR BELONGINGS, MAYBE THINGS GET STOLEN WHEN THEY GO TO A CLINIC. >> BEING A FEMALE OUT THERE IS NOT IT'S NOT SAFE. AND THAT'S LIKE COMING HERE AND BEING ABLE TO LOCK MY DOOR. ALSO, HAVING A BATHROOM IS AMAZING. >> MELISSA FISCHER, ONCE UNHOUSED, HAS NOW BEEN GIVEN SUPPORTIVE HOUSING BUT REMEMBERS THE FEW TIMES WHEN PEOPLE DIED ALONE. >> THERE'S ONE GENTLEMAN THAT PASSED AWAY, AND HE WAS IN AN ENCAMPMENT IN A TENT, AND HE WAS THERE FOR LIKE A WEEK AND NOBODY KNEW. >> NO ONE KNEW, STONEMASON BILLY BOB TOLD US THEY DON'T THINK ABOUT DYING ON THESE STREETS WHEN PEOPLE REALIZE THAT THEY'RE GOING TO DIE. >> I THINK THAT'S THE POINT IN LIFE WHERE EVERYBODY GO CRAZY. >> YOU REALLY DON'T HAVE ANYBODY LOOKING AFTER, YOU KNOW, THIS GUY. DO YOU WORRY AT ALL THAT YOU KNOW SOMETHING MIGHT HAPPEN TO YOU AND NOBODY WILL KNOW? NO >> I THINK I GOT FAITH IN GOD. >> YOU'VE GOT FAITH IN GOD AND BILLY BOB HAS BEEN HOMELESS FOR 36 YEARS, AND MANY HOMELESS PEOPLE AREN'T LIVING THAT LONG BECAUSE SLEEPING ON THE STREETS, WE KNOW THIS TAKES A TOLL ON YOUR BODY. AND THEN YOU INTRODUCE FENTANYL, FOR EXAMPLE. IT'S LIKE ONE EMERGENCY ROOM DOCTOR IN SAN FRANCISCO HAS SAID IT'S LIKE A WARTIME DEATH TOLL IN PLACES WHERE THERE IS NO WAR. AND OF COURSE, SOME SOME THINGS YOU CAN'T AVOID. YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WILL DIE, BUT OTHERS YOU CAN. FOR EXAMPLE, SOME DIED OF AN ASTHMA ATTACK. SURE. SO THEY ALL THEY NEEDED WAS AN INHALER. SO THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT. LET'S PREVENT SOME OF THESE DEATHS. >> IT'S EASY MEDICAL CARE. THEY'RE NOT BEING TREATED. THE STRESS OF LIVING
