In a former warehouse lined with hundreds of pea green army cots, the initial results of the first area homeless count were released June 16, confirming a somber statistic.

With 91,000 homeless men, women and children on any given night, Los Angeles County has the largest homeless population in the nation for any major metropolitan area.

Moreover, the number of chronically homeless individuals --- those on the streets for at least a year or who have had four episodes of homelessness in the last three years, and who have one or more disabilities --- is more than 34,800 people. The proportion of chronically down-and-outers in Los Angeles is 42 percent, also the highest of any big city area in the country.

These findings were based on an actual enumeration of people on the street and in shelters and other institutions conducted over three nights last January. Some 3,300 face-to-face interviews with the homeless and a telephone survey of 1,000 randomly selected households were also done. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority commissioned the ground-breaking study, which was coordinated by Applied Survey Research working with UCLA statisticians.

Although few elected officials have made homelessness a priority, a supervisor, three city council members along with the county's chief law enforcement officer were on hand to decry the new findings.

"This study, this census that's being released today, is very troubling," said County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. "I don't think there's anybody who predicted that the number of homeless people on the streets of Los Angeles would be approaching 100,000. And I don't think anybody believed that the number of chronically homeless in Los Angeles was 35,000."

"The cost of homelessness is not zero," he stressed. "The cost of homelessness is significant and pervasive in every community of Los Angeles, and it's corrosive to our society. We as a society have come to tolerate homelessness, to accept it and ignore it. And I think what this census has demonstrated is what we are doing as a society, and even as a country, is not right --- and it's not enough."

Yaroslavsky said he would soon propose to his fellow supervisors a plan to allot at least $20 million to build new transitional housing throughout the county.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca agreed that local government had failed to deal with those "left behind."

"The county jails for too many years have been the first provider of care for too many homeless people, including veterans and the mentally ill," he said. "Our county as a whole has suffered immensely over budget cuts in the past several years. And, unfortunately, those who have the least are going to be the most impacted."

The sheriff called the count another opportunity for local leaders to address the growing problem. "Too many children and mothers are homeless," Baca said. "We have to get to the place where these children are not developing a homeless pattern that will lead to their adulthood. This to me is not only unconscionable, it is dangerous, and it will lead to further crime."

City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel described the hands-on survey, which was done by more than 1,000 volunteers and paid homeless workers who counted homeless people in 512 census tracks, a reality check. "The street count," she said, "is telling us something that many of us knew, but a lot of people didn't believe --- that the number of homeless individuals and families in the city of Los Angeles is not diminishing."

She noted that many homeless people become "invisible," but they are still there, and can be a family member or friend who's simply fallen through the cracks of society. "So today is a call to arms by all of us --- city, county and community --- to say homelessness must be addressed, homelessness must be stopped, and we can only solve it by working together."

At the end of the press conference, hosted by New Image Emergency Shelter, which served and housed 11,563 people last year, two former homeless clients spoke briefly. Elizabeth Reed, 53, told how she ended up at the shelter more than a year ago after staying with relatives when she couldn't afford her rent.

"This place has provided me with a lot of services," she said. "And they took very good care of me with my disability, finding me transitional housing, which I'm in right now. So they've been here for me, and God bless them. Because you never know until you get in that situation how it is. A lot of people have to realize that they're a paycheck or two from being where I was."

College-educated Gary Lebeauf found himself homeless two days after his 51st birthday. So he took the bus from 108th and Main to the South Los Angeles shelter, not knowing what to expect. With the help of a case worker, he was able to find an affordable apartment and get some new clothes to wear on job interviews.

"This is a wonderful place for people who are disenfranchised and not used to being homeless," Lebeauf said. "Try walking around eight to 12 hours a day with nothing. But I could come here in the afternoon. I could get a shower, a warm meal and be in a friendly place. All we need is opportunity and resources. Today I have dignity."