The 2021 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count is officially complete! After much planning and coordination, HFI has successfully conducted its first PIT Count in multiple counties in southwest Iowa. We are very thankful for those individuals in southwest Iowa who helped us plan, prepare for, and conduct the Count.
The PIT Count is a count of individuals experiencing homelessness, both sheltered and unsheltered. The PIT Count happens on one night each year, and communities all across the US conduct the Count in the last week of January. The purpose of the Count is to get a snapshot of how many people are experiencing homelessness and to gather demographic info about them. It is an important endeavor both because it helps us assess progress and because it influences funding from HUD for homelessness services in Iowa. The current health crisis made the Count a little more difficult this year, but with adaptations to ensure volunteers were safe, we made the Count happen!
HFI is the lead agency for one of Iowa’s Coordinated Services Regions – the Iowa Balance of Counties. This includes Harrison, Shelby, Audubon, Cass, Mills, Montgomery, Fremont, and Page Counties. Most of these counties had not previously participated in the Count, so getting the Count started here was a big step forward! A lot of our efforts this year involved establishing relationships with law enforcement and social services agencies in the area and gathering info from them about what homelessness looks like in their communities. We also sought info from them on known sleeping locations for those experiencing unsheltered homelessness, and their assistance with this greatly aided our efforts to find and count individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness on January 27.
Getting this first PIT Count in the books is an important step in ending homelessness in southwest Iowa. We look forward to seeing the final results of this year’s Count, along with conducting and improving the Count in future years.
