The Coalition for the Homeless, staff from The Way Home partner agencies, and community volunteers will conduct the annual Homeless Count & Survey from Monday, January 27 through Thursday, January 30. The 2020 Homeless Count will identify the number of both sheltered and unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness across Houston, Pasadena, Harris County, Fort Bend County, and Montgomery County.

“The annual Count is counted at the same time and in the same way each year and shows us trends in homelessness year to year,” said Michael Nichols, President/CEO with the Coalition for the Homeless. “This snapshot of homelessness on a single night in Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties is one of the key data points that informs our strategies and guides our programs as we work to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring.”

The Count is divided into two categories to identify sheltered and unsheltered persons. The data for the sheltered portion of the Count is collected electronically via the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and happens on the night of January 27. The unsheltered portion of the Count will take place over three days: January 28, 29, and 30. On those three days, specialized outreach teams will conduct brief, conversational surveys with individuals on the street to confirm that they were unsheltered for the night of January 27, and document what their housing needs may be. Coordinated Access Housing Assessments will also be offered on the spot to Veterans, families, and youth/young adults experiencing homelessness, and to individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.

The annual Homeless Count is a requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the local Continuum of Care (CoC) funding process, which brought more than $38 million in Fiscal Year 2018 to multiple homeless assistance programs in Houston, Pasadena, Harris County, Fort Bend County and Montgomery County. The Coalition for the Homeless applies for this funding each year, as lead agency to The Way Home, which is then used by homeless service partners to provide permanent housing, outreach, and supportive services to individuals experiencing homelessness. Results from the 2020 Count will give an idea of the progress being made by the collaborative efforts of local service agencies. It will also provide specific demographic and programmatic gaps information needed to solve chronic homelessness and continue to improve the region’s homeless response system.

During the 2020 Count & Survey, hundreds of The Way Home partner agency staff and community volunteers will depart from multiple staging areas across the greater Houston area to count and survey individuals, veterans, families and young people who live on the streets. The Count also aids the Coalition and partner agency outreach teams to learn where people are sleeping for continued outreach throughout the year.