A total of 2,107 people including 207 children experienced homelessness in Stanislaus County according to new numbers from a Point-In-Time homeless count (PIT Count) conducted early this year. The count is up by 184 people from last year.
1,990 questionnaires were collected in the annual canvassing, an unduplicated count of individuals and families experiencing homelessness in both sheltered and unsheltered populations. It surpasses the count in 2019 which reported 1,923 homeless people. The majority of homeless in this year’s count were found in the cities of Modesto and Turlock.
The survey data is reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and used to help determine the amount of funding available to the community to develop housing and supportive services for people moving from homelessness to independent living. The surveys were conducted on January 24, 2020 to help provide a snapshot of homelessness in a given community.
Point in Time Count volunteers came from the Stanislaus Community System of Care which included local governments, non-profits, and homeless service providers. A total of 310 volunteers fanned out across Stanislaus County visiting emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, parks, and the outdoors where the homeless live. Each volunteer asked survey questions of the homeless and provided comfort kits with toiletries and other items to those who agreed to respond.
The PIT Count is a tally of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single day in January. HUD requires that Continuums of Care conduct an annual count of people experiencing homelessness who are sheltered in emergency shelters, transitional housing, and Safe Havens on a single night and count the number of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness every other year.