Bend, OR – The Housing Leadership Coalition, along with NeighborImpact and other local agencies, will conduct the annual Point-In-Time Count in Central Oregon on January 29-31, 2020.
The Point-In-Time count is a nationwide effort to count every person experiencing homelessness across the country. The count attempts to capture both sheltered, (i.e. living in emergency shelters and transitional housing), and unsheltered, (i.e. living in a place not meant for human habitation, like a car, outside, abandoned building, etc.), individuals experiencing homelessness. Dozens of trained volunteers survey people in shelters, transitional housing, at meal sites and food banks, drop-in centers, health clinics, hotels/motels, campsites, RV parks and through street canvassing.
In addition to the total number of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness, the count gathers information on a wide range of characteristics of the homeless population including age, gender, race, ethnicity, veteran status and disability status. The survey is both confidential and anonymous.
These data are used to measure homelessness on a local and national level and are published annually on the Department of Housing and Urban Development ‘s HUD Exchange website. PIT count data are also provided annually to Congress as part of the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR). The AHAR is used by Congress, HUD, other federal departments and the general public to understand the nature and extent of homelessness, regionally and nationally. PIT count data has become increasingly important as a measure of local and national progress related to preventing and ending homelessness.
The results of the count help to inform HUD’s funding decisions and may affect the resources offered to programs in the region which work toward preventing and ending homelessness.entral Oregon
