A record number of people hit the streets Tuesday for the annual Point in Time count.
The count is a one night “snapshot” that, when taken each year, can provide an overview of the homeless population and trends over time.
More than 80 volunteers -- composed of service provider staff, community members, city of Asheville staff, as well as city and county elected officials -- will canvas the community and collect data from those experiencing homelessness.
Some 48 volunteers participated in the 2022 Point in Time count. This year, there’s 84, a record high turnout, leaders said.
Over the past three years, there's been an increase in the homeless population, and officials believe it’s likely they’ll see an increase again this year.
In 2022, the count totaled 637 people who were homeless with 232 of them being unsheltered.
“I think what’s so important is that we all recognize that solving homelessness is a communitywide issue. And when we have more community members take part of that solution, it really shows us that we can together address this issue,” Asheville Community and Economic Development director Nikki Reid said.
Reid thinks the increase has been because some major investments in permanent housing having yet to come online.
Having more count volunteers this year shows that people realize that solving the crisis will be a community effort, Reid said.
Some of the questions asked included gender, race, where they sleep at night, how long they’ve been staying there, when they became homeless, if they have any disabling conditions, if they’re a veteran or domestic violence survivor and the main reason they aren’t staying in a shelter.
She said the data received will be critical because it helps officials know what people are experiencing and how to prioritize where to put resources.
“A mental health worker or a behavioral health worker that can really help to understand and triage exact needs or challenges or barriers a person is facing at any point in time,” Reid said.
City leaders said talking with people who are experiencing homelessness directly is helpful because they can see the challenges and barriers they’re facing.
Mayor Esther Manheimer said she believes there’s been a heightened sense of urgency around the homelessness issue, and it has brought more people out to help address the crisis.
Manheimer said it’s important for people to get out there and interact with those experiencing homelessness.
“A lot of people have a lot of opinions about this issue, but, until you speak to someone who is experiencing homelessness, you don’t really get the total picture,” she said.
The goal is to understand the needs of those on the streets and help them meet those needs to get out of homelessness.
For some volunteers, it was their first time participating in the count.
Crystal MacKinnon said she looks at the PIT count data every year and thought it made sense to be a part of collecting the information.
She said she's not sure if the number of homeless had increased or if they had just become more visible.
“The pandemic kind of drew people out, people started congregating more and so it could be that people are just more visible as far as seeing encampments,” MacKinnon said.
Another volunteer, Jay Floyd, said he wanted to help his city.
“To get an understanding of homelessness and the beginning is starting with funding, so you gotta get a count first,” Floyd said.
“Other people are thinking like I’m thinking, you know. We can sit back and look at our problems or we can do something about them."
Floyd said the homeless need more support. He said sometimes the homeless don’t want to be approached and that can make the count inaccurate. He said those doing the count can be more sensitive.
“All we can do is suit up and show up,” Floyd said.
The data collected Tuesday night will be aggregated, with identifying information removed, and then reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which requires that all communities that receive HUD funding to address homelessness conduct an annual PIT Count.
Reid said the public can expect PIT count results by spring.