The annual Point In Time (PIT) Count will take place in Asheville on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
Every year, the Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care collaborates with many local organizations that focus on housing insecurity to collect data on those experiencing homelessness.
The “snapshot” census provides a one-night example of the current homeless population.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires communities to perform the count if they seek funding to address homelessness.
Mike DeSerio, Homeward Bound Outreach Program manager, explained that, on Tuesday night, volunteers and staff from local organizations will go out in teams into the community and conduct a headcount of those who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness.
He added that the count directly impacts the amount of funding they're given to work with those who are homeless.
On Jan. 25, the National Alliance to End Homelessness presented its conclusions and recommendations from its study on homelessness in Asheville to city and county leaders.
Now, with the PIT count, the public will get to see just how many people are being affected.
DeSerio said he was hopeful that the alliance’s study, with its findings and recommendations, would build momentum within the community, as the publicity surrounding the alliance’s recommendations has helped to make sure people are more mindful the count is happening.
“I just hope that people are becoming more aware of the issues and then hoping to kind of jump on the bandwagon and help out in some of the spots,” DeSerio said.
He said there isn’t a specific next step after the count but that he wants it to open people’s eyes and boost awareness of what has been going on.
The count helps to show the urgency for solutions, he said, such as low-barrier shelters and streamlining ways to get people off the streets and into housing.
He also added that they plan to continue to work with their outreach teams and improve what they’re already doing.
Being a part of a team that works in the camps with those experiencing homelessness, DeSerio said he anticipates the numbers will increase from 2022 to now.
Last year's PIT findings showed Asheville experienced a 21% increase in homelessness from 2021 to 2022.
“I do feel like it’s risen," DeSerio said of the current homeless population in Asheville, "and it just feels like there’s more of a presence of people that don’t have a home.”
He said he thinks they will most likely see more people out on the streets on Tuesday.
Tim McElyea, ABCCM director of Homeless Services, explained how this count will determine exactly where local leaders need to apply their resources and to know what demographic to focus on.
“It helps us to get a really good understanding of who’s out there,” he said.
McElyea added that this will be the first normal PIT count since the pandemic, so this year should be a bit easier for everyone to get out and count everyone.
Last year, McElyea said they saw an increase in families that were homeless.
“It’s going to be interesting to see, in the post-Covid environment, what those numbers look like, how they compare to other years,” he said.
He said the information collected from this count will be valuable in showing both city and county leaders what direction they need to go in dealing with homelessness in the community as some of their main discussions thus far have focused on street outreach and encampments.
He said the lack of affordable housing in Asheville will also have impacts on the count's results.
“What we can do to expedite getting those folks into housing?” McElyea said.
The count is all about being able to enhance their processes in getting people off the streets.
McElyea added that ABCCM planned to call for a Code Purple Tuesday night, even if the temperature doesn't drop below freezing, in an effort to gather all those experiencing homelessness into the same place.