Annual ‘Point-In-Time’ count of city’s homeless population takes place Jan. 25-31
Members of the Manchester Continuum of Care, with the help of volunteers, will be hitting the streets from Jan. 25 to January 31 between from 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. to gather data on the city’s unsheltered homeless population.
MANCHESTER, NH – The Manchester Continuum of Care (MCoC), an organization that represents all individuals and entities who work to end homelessness in the City of Manchester and the State of New Hampshire, will be conducting the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count from Jan. 25-31 to gather data about sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness during the early hours of the week. This effort helps the organization in its work with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to determine the needs in the community for housing and homelessness, and the subsequent resources provided to the City by the federal government to combat homelessness.
“During the PIT Count, the Manchester Homelessness Outreach Workers and volunteers walk and drive the streets of our community and get a better understanding of how many individuals are experiencing homelessness in our community. At the same time, our shelter and other homelessness-serving agencies conduct a count of the homeless individuals they are serving,” said Matthew McCall, Chair of the Manchester Continuum of Care. “The count helps the MCoC to identify the scope of the need and to be able to request adequate funding from the federal government to respond to that need.”
The PIT count takes place across the country during the same time period and helps to detect trends and assess funding allocation. This is a requirement of HUD for CoC’s to receive the funding they allocate to homelessness programs. On the first day of the count, local providers and volunteers meet at 6 a.m. and split up in teams of three to conduct the count. Members of the group that do the street count interact with individuals to gather information for the count and provide any resources they can to those they count in the community.
The street count is just one step in a larger process that includes gathering information for people living unsheltered, in encampments, and in shelters and transitional housing. Additional data is collected with the support of shelter, housing, and outreach teams throughout the rest of the week. Once the broader process is complete, the information is provided to HUD and released as part of a more comprehensive national report later in the year.
“Next to having open hearts, data is the best tool we can use to combat homelessness in our community. The point in time count is one of the ways we can appreciate our numbers and the circumstances we can change,” said Adrienne Beloin, Director of Housing Stability for the City of Manchester.
The Continuum of Care (CoC) Program was developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The MCoC receives and disburses federal funds to provide permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, supportive services, Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), and, in some cases, homelessness prevention. The MCoC works to ensure that every person has affordable, safe, and appropriate housing and to prevent and end homelessness in Manchester.
About the Manchester CoC
The Manchester Continuum of Care (MCoC) is a collaborative of community partners and member organizations based in Manchester, New Hampshire, who work together on an ongoing basis. The MCoC works to bridge homeless individuals, providers, and the community of Manchester in a comprehensive system to ensure the most cohesive support network for those experiencing homelessness in the City. While the MCoC is responsible for determining funding needs and applying to HUD grants that are then allocated to the programs and organizations that are a part of the work to address housing and homelessness in the greater Manchester area, it has a larger function of bringing together the community of Manchester to support the needs of all of it’s citizens to have safe, affordable, and adequate housing, an integrated community of supports for individuals experiencing homelessness, and a hub for providing accurate and unbiased information about the state of homelessness in the city, the most effective strategies for ending homelessness, and the sharing of resources and support across the continuum of care.
Learn more about the MCoC at www.manchester-coc.org and consider attending one of our information sessions to learn more about what the CoC does and how you can support your community.
Press release submitted by the Manchester Continuum of Care.
