By Barb Arland-Fye
For The Catholic Messenger
Every winter — usually the last Wednesday or Thursday in January — staff from housing agencies across Iowa and the nation bundle up and head outdoors to count individuals who are living unhoused.
The annual “Point-in-Time” (PIT) Count is a requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), said Karla Padilla, Coordinated Entry Specialist with the Institute for Community Alliances in Des Moines.
“Each count is planned, coordinated and carried out locally,” Padilla said. “On this same night, the Housing Inventory Count takes place, which is a measure of all the bed capacity for projects within a CoC (Continuum of Care).”
CoCs “promote a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness,” HUD states on its website. CoCs provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, states, Indian Tribes or tribally designated housing entities and local governments to quickly rehouse people who have become homeless for a variety of reasons. CoCs also promote access to programs aimed at optimizing self-sufficiency for people experiencing homelessness.
The PIT count “is vital for our work because it serves as the primary data source for measuring homelessness on a national scale. This count influences federal funding allocations and helps shape local strategies to end homelessness,” Padilla said. “By providing a snapshot of both sheltered and unsheltered individuals, it allows communities to track their progress, identify trends within sub-populations, and justify the need for additional resources.”
Before dawn Jan. 28, people representing nine housing agencies from the Quad Cities conducted the PIT Count for Scott County. They located 11 people living outside, un-sheltered, according to Megan Brown-Saldana, chief development officer for Humility Homes and Services in Davenport, which led the count. However, a number of people who live unsheltered outdoors go uncounted because they find shelter in hidden spaces, housing advocates say. The number of people who spent the night in a homeless shelter was not available. Look for final results of this year’s national and local count later this spring.
