Annual homeless count effort takes place this week – WV MetroNews

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The Point-in-Time Count (PIT) is a federally required, annual count of people experiencing homelessness, taking place this year this Wednesday and Thursday.

The data collected during PIT is what HUD uses to determine funding levels, program priorities, and resource allocation for communities across the state.

“We do it every year towards the end of January and the goal of it is to determine how many we have experiencing homelessness in every county,” Berkeley County Community Outreach for Resources and Education (C.O.R.E.) Team Case Manager Caroline Wilson said. “It actually takes place across the entire nation and all of that data informs funding and services for homelessness.”

There are certain guidelines to follow to count a person as being homeless, West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness Outreach Specialist Roxie Besaw said.

“Someone who is literally homeless, on the street, someone at risk of losing their housing and someone fleeing from domestic violance,” she said.

Both Wilson and Besaw said during a recent appearance on Panhandle Live homeless people often are heading to work every day, but a bit hurdle, is affordable housing.

“There are plenty of people with incomes that are not able to afford housing,” Wilson said. “One thing that I see a lot is that people on Social Security, whether it’s SSI, disability or retirement, who cannot afford a place to live.”

In numbers tabulated during the previous PIT count, the Eastern Panhandle had the highest numbers of homeless people in the state with more than 250 counted during a 24 hour period last January.

Statewide according to figures from the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, 883 individuals were identified as homeless in the count statewide.

There will be a kick off event for the Berkeley County PIT Count Wednesday at St. John Lutheran Church in Martinsburg.

For more information or to sign up, go to wvceh.org/pit

Tracking the numbers year after year helps advocates trends, identify gaps, and advocate for what communities actually need.

Advocates said the more volunteers who show up, the more accurate the count can be, which especially important in rural counties that are often underrepresented.