The Homeless Leadership Coalition, Central Oregon’s Continuum of Care, will be kicking off the annual Point In-Time Count in Central Oregon on Tuesday, Jan. 24.
The count is a part of a state and national effort to identify the number of individuals experiencing homelessness and greatly impacts the available funding for homeless services to our region and provides a snapshot of the growing housing and homelessness crisis in our region.
The Point In-Time Count is the only source of nationwide data on sheltered and unsheltered homelessness and is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of all jurisdictions receiving federal funding to provide housing and services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
This information helps the federal government to better understand the nature and extent of homelessness nationwide and helps to inform communities’ local strategic planning, capacity building, and advocacy campaigns to prevent and end homelessness.
The Point In-Time Count attempts to capture data on both sheltered and unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness to provide a snapshot of homelessness in the United States. In addition to the total number of sheltered and unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness, information is gathered on a wide range of characteristics of those experiencing homelessness including age, gender, race, ethnicity, veteran status, and disability status.
Individuals and families counted through this effort include people living in:
- Shelters
- Transitional housing
- “Doubled up” or precariously housed with families/friends
- Camping, sleeping outdoors or in cars or RV’s without full hookup
- Other places not designed for human habitation
Locally starting on Tuesday, January 24th and ending on January 31st, the HLC will be working with community partners to assist in conducting the confidential and anonymous surveys in La Pine, Bend, Sisters, Redmond, Prineville, Madras, and Warm Springs.
The HLC has organized a service-based count, leveraging already existing partnerships and services to those experiencing homelessness. Additionally, J Bar J Youth Services will offer expanded Point In Time Count access via telephone. Individuals can call 541-630-2533 to be counted between 9am and 5pm. A Bilingual English/Spanish speaking staff member will answer this phone number.