Annual count gives insight into demographics of community experiencing homelessness

Every January, groups of community members in Orange County gather one night to conduct the Point-in-Time count – a federally-mandated count of every homeless person in the county. 

Equipped with gift bags full of hats, gloves, toiletries, food, water and other helpful items, five teams attempted to count and survey every person experiencing homelessness — sheltered or unsheltered — in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and surrounding areas of Orange County on the night of Jan. 25.

The count started at 6 p.m. and ended around 10:30 p.m., when the last team finished. This year, the county will continue to survey people through today about where they slept on the night of Jan. 25, hoping to survey anyone they might have missed on the official night of the PIT count.

During the count, Orange County Homeless Program Coordinator Corey Root said people are asked to fill out a survey with questions about age, gender, race, veteran status, potential disabilities, where and when the last time the person was housed and other related questions.

“(The survey) helps with understanding who the folks are that you’re trying to serve,” Root said. 

The Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness — and other local organizations that provide services for those living unsheltered or in transitional or emergency housing — can compare data from past years to see what trends are occurring with specific demographics. Root said they use this data to fine-tune the services they provide. 

In 2016, the total number of people experiencing homelessness on the night of the count was 80 – 55 percent of whom were living in transitional housing, 26 percent in emergency shelter and 19 percent who were unsheltered. 

Root said transitional housing includes community houses, some substance abuse treatment centers and similar locations.

In 2015, the total number was 129, with 63 percent living in emergency shelter, 22 percent living in transitional housing and 16 percent unsheltered.  

The majority of people experiencing homelessness both years on the night of the count were single adults living in households without children.

While the deadline for submitting this year’s count results is not until April, Root said they are hopeful the preliminary data will be available sooner.

The teams administering the survey included community volunteers, police officers and service providers – people who have experience with organizations designed to help those in need.

Sharanya Thiru, advocate training coordinator for the Community Empowerment Fund, said the count is helpful to get a quantitative account of all the people in this vulnerable situation in the area. 

Thiru volunteered at the count for the second year in a row and helped survey the downtown Chapel Hill area.

“It’s helpful to see if we are meeting the needs of the community, or if we need to be doing more or if we need to focus on different demographics,” she said.

The Community Empowerment Fund is one of the organizations in Orange County that provides support to help people and build relationships during their transition out of homelessness.

"We are also kind of a meeting point, very connected to most of the other providers and resources in the county that may or may not be directly serving the community that is experiencing homelessness, but can provide them with help," she said.

Thiru said CEF prioritizes the needs of each person by helping them meet personal goals, like getting a job or an education. 

“By coming in and working with our advocates, we identify their needs and connect them to those resources," she said.

In addition to providing more information about the people the county is serving, the PIT count is financially useful to local efforts in fighting homelessness.

“The federal government and several other bodies provide funding on the basis of the PIT count and that’s an important aspect for the organization and all the other service providers in the community,” Thiru said.

Joshua Mecimore, public information officer for the Chapel Hill Police Department, said the police provide security during the count, but their involvement goes much further than that. 

He said the crisis unit is involved in organizing the count, pulling together volunteers and identifying campsites and locations where they are likely to find people experiencing homelessness.

“It also is a good opportunity for our officers to have some nonenforcement interactions — some positive encounters with an at-risk community,” he said. “Those communities are important to us, just as they are important to the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness.”

@livschaber