2012 "Point in Time" Homeless Count Results Announced

An annual survey of the number of homeless people living in Guilford County has been
completed, and the results were announced this morning during a news conference held at the Interactive Resource Center in Greensboro.

 Partners Ending Homelessness, the organization that conducts the survey, says a total of 949 homeless individuals were counted during the statewide Point-In-Time survey, which began on January 30th.  That's down six percent from the 2012 count, when 1,005 people were found.  Of that total, 781 were sheltered, while 168 were not in shelters. 

There was a 26-person decrease in military veterans experiencing homelessness, and the number of family households and the total number of children remained relatively flat compared with last year. There was, though, a 60-person increase in the number of chronic homeless... and that was largely attributed to the fact that, for the first time, the survey was conducted over more than just  24 hours.

Darryl Kosciak, the Executive Director of Partners Ending Homelessness, said, "Though the numbers still remain high, and many factors influencing theses numbers remain out of the homeless service system's control (unemployment and reductions to mental health and substance abuse services,) thee are some bright spots in this data: the overall decrease is a result of individuals and families working to overcome terribly difficult circumstances, our partner agencies working incredibly hard to ensure people are
accessing permanent housing, and a small increase in the number of vouchers and housing units available for persons experiencing homelessness."

Earlier this month, a system-wide “think tank” was hosted by the organization, to come up with active steps to be taken to reduce homelessness. Kosciak outlined some of the objectives.

“Rededicating to ending chronic homelessness, focusing on reducing family homelessness, really looking to improve our measurement and our accountability, and our performance with the things we can control," Kosciak said, "is fabulous and it really sends a strong message to the community that we want to be accountable, we can do some great things if we have the proper support, and if we can get more support, we can make this thing happen.”

Kosciak also explained how the community can get involved in the effort.“First of all, if you go to our website, partnersendinghomelessness.org -- I think it's the community partners page -- there's a list of the agencies that we work with.  Every single one of them needs assistance; needs volunteers.”

The complete results of the 2012 Point In Time survey can be found here: http://www.partnersendinghomelessness.org/research/index.php