Totals for the 2010 Guilford County homeless count (part of the annual, nationwide HUD count) were reported to the state and available on the web as of March 12th, as reported here at ChosenFast.com. Those numbers were officially released to the media today:
On any given night, 1,064 people find themselves without permanent shelter in Guilford County, new data shows.
The annual “point-in-time†count of the homeless Jan. 27 found that at least that many people were living on the street, in shelters or in transitional housing, according to a report released today by Partners Ending Homelessness.
The annual count is a snapshot of homelessness in the county and officials caution it is not a complete picture of the situation. People often decline to take the voluntary survey and others may not be found during the 24-hour period that it takes place.
In 2009, the point-in-time count found 1,052 people experiencing homelessness in Guilford County.
This year’s count of the homeless also showed:
- a 55 percent increase in the number of military veterans
- a 31 percent increase in the number of domestic violence victims; and
- an 8 percent increase in the number of children
– from ‘Snapshot’ survey shows homelessness on rise : News-Record.com
My experience with our StreetWatch team, as well as observations at shelter and meal locations, and conversations with police officers and homeless people, tell me that homelessness is increasing in our city and county, as it is across the nation. Counting homeless people is a notoriously difficult, and ultimately impossible, task. So I tend to go by trends, based on who we see and who we serve.
Last week, I spoke with Jehan Benton-Clark, director of Partners Ending Homelessness (PEH), about this year’s homeless count totals. We discussed the inherent limitations of a one-day homeless count, and other available data from local homeless service providers which presents a broader picture of the increasing homeless population in our area. I anticipate a more detailed public report from PEH.
