Genesee County homeless to be counted Jan. 26

Metro Community Development will hold its annual count of the homeless, Point in Time, in Genesee County Jan. 26. Point in Time is a count of the homeless mandated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) every two years. Metro Community Development decided to do it every year, explained Gerry Leslie, homeless management information systems administrator.

"As a community, we receive federal and state funding to deal with homelessness and people living with extremely low income," Leslie explained. "The community submits an appeal to HUD which weighs in the homeless count to decide the funding to allocate.

Once state and federal money has been given, a group of Genesee County organizations allocates the money to specific organizations to deal with the needs of the homeless community.

"The federal definition of homelessness is someone staying in a place unfit for human habitation or staying in an emergency shelter," said Leslie.

An unfit dwelling, Leslie explained, includes scenes commonly associated with homelessness — tents, underpasses, doorways. But it also includes people squatting in abandoned buildings, or living without active utilities because they cannot afford their heat and water bills.

Point in Time is going to be conducted a little differently this year, Leslie said. The count will be spread over a three-day window, Jan. 26 to Jan. 28. The night of Jan. 26, the people in 32 shelters across the county will be counted.

During Jan. 27 and Jan. 28 volunteers will go to clothing donation centers, soup kitchens and other facilities to conduct a head count.

The key question is, Leslie said, "Were you homeless on the night of the Jan. 26?"

New methodology and technology will remove duplications from the data and provide a more accurate count.

"We really have no idea what the count will give us because of the new methodology. In 2009, we counted 2,961 homeless people in Genesee County. It already looks like there will be an increase," she said.

"One thing we've seen is how people stereotype homelessness. They have the idea of the single male in his 30s or 40s sleeping on the street. But in 2009, the fastest growing segment of homelessness was families. And of those families, 50 percent were homeless for the first time. So we are going to be particularly aware of families as we count this year," Leslie said.

Another group the 2011 Point in Time will be particularly aware of is homeless veterans. HUD and the Veteran's Administration Association are putting special emphasis on counting homeless veterans. Point in Time will be working with veterans organizations in Genesee County to collect this data.

"It is crucial we get as accurate a count as possible. The more accurate the count, the more efficiently we're able to allocate funding to the people who need it the most," Leslie said.

Contact Leslie at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like to volunteer.

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