Homeless Count

For several hours Wednesday evening workers and volunteers throughout the city will be hitting the streets looking for people who are homeless. They will take a head count, as they identify people living in temporary shelter, makeshift housing and on the streets. The annual “point-in-time count,” coordinated by the city provides a snapshot of the homeless situation which is used as an indicator to evaluate Springfield’s Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness. The last several years saw a slight decline in individuals who were homeless after a high of 289 in 2005.

In more recent years, progress has been made in at least getting people off the streets and into emergency shelters like those run by Friends of the Homeless, Inc. on Worthington Street. That important step offers safety to people who are homeless and helps expose individuals to services that are available to help them find permanent housing.

Last year, Friends of the Homeless Inc.’s shelters for men and women provided shelter to one thousand, two hundred, seventy-seven people. Five hundred, ninety-seven of those were new individuals. The average stay in emergency shelter was forty nights, up only slightly from 2007. Executive Director, Bill Miller sees the figures as progress, considering the economy. “Friends of the Homeless is working very hard with the community to prevent homelessness before it happens and re-house people quickly once they find themselves without a home.” Just in the last quarter of 2009, twenty-eight individuals retained or gained permanent housing through The Homecoming Project, a new initiative that’s administered collaboratively by Friends of the Homeless and Catholic Charities.

Wednesday night’s point in time count is vital to accurately evaluate the resources and services working on the issues of homelessness. The count is also considered in funding formulas for public dollars. Results will take several days to calculate and will be released by the city next week.