July 26, 2024
BY JOHN BAILEY
The more you know, the more empowered you are to make a positive change in your community.
This belief is what inspired this week’s Point-in-Time (PIT) homeless count by the five counties that make up Region 3 of the North Carolina Continuums of Care group - Catawba, Burke, Alexander, McDowell and Caldwell.
This was the first time a PIT summer count has been held in the state, according to Amber Brafford, Partners Health Management Housing Specialist and chair of the Housing Visions group in Catawba County.
“For us and all the other grassroot agencies we work with, our lot in the world is to help people, and being able to do this enables that to happen better,” Brafford said Wednesday during the count. “With this additional data, we have more room for advocacy at the state level with HUD.”
The PIT count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night. The official PIT count is held annually every January and is mandated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and affects the amount of funding granted to regions in each state to support outreach programs addressing homelessness.
While the summer count is not official in the eyes of the state, it does give Region 3 a better picture of what homelessness looks like in local counties.
“The winter count sometimes has some barriers, so the summer count gives us the opportunity to get more data and see where we’re missing people and where they are falling through the gaps,” Brafford said.
In Catawba County, the summer count was held at the Hickory Soup Kitchen, The Corner Table in Newton and Strong Life Ministries in Conover.
And while it is not an official HUD count, all the information collected will be included in the region’s homeless management system to help with continued outreach.
“Our partners at Western Piedmont Council of Governments have been fantastic through this,” Brafford said. “They have a homeless response team that will continue to do that follow-up.”
An information fair was also held at the Hickory Soup Kitchen site to help introduce individuals to local resources. Agencies at the fair included Partners Health Management, Western Piedmont Council of Governments, Well Woman Care foundation, Catawba County United Way, Kintegra and Infinite Beginnings.
The last official PIT count held this past January showed 264 individuals experiencing homelessness in Catawba County.
To learn more about the PIT count or other related outreach, visit the WPCOG Homeless Response Team website - https://homelessresponse.org/ or contact Chasity at 828-485-4297.
