NEWS
Point-in-Time count is unavoidable and often an undercount BY HANNAH HERNER
Like nearly every city in the country, Nashville did not do a Point-In-Time count in 2021. It was exempt because of COVID-19. But this year, volunteers were back at it. Around 115 unpaid volunteers canvassed the city and more remote areas of Nashville in groups of four or five on the night of Jan. 27 from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. — to count people sleeping outside. Because of how transient the homeless population can be, it’s always considered an undercount. So why do we do it? In short, because it’s required. The Point-In-Time (PIT) count is a one-night count required by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and helps determine funding for cities based on how many people experiencing homelessness are counted during one night. HUD requires that cities do an outdoor count at least once every two years, coupled with a Housing Inventory Count of beds and units dedicated for serving those experiencing homelessness. Doing annual counts is an incentive for more HUD money. Most places do it in the “middle of the night,” and HUD documents refer to the “night of the count” constantly throughout. The nighttime nature is thought to be more accurate because people have taken to shelters and their sleep spots, making them easier to count than if they’re out and about during the day. It’s not required to be at night, though – the count simply must be completed in the last 10 days of January, over a 24-hour time period. “Typically Nashville chooses to do that because you if you've got people going to work during the day, walking on the sidewalks during the day, it's more difficult to tell whether they're really going to be sleeping outdoors at night,” says Suzie Tolmie, homeless coordinator with MDHA, who heads up the count. HUD documents note that at the end of the month people may not have the resources they do at the beginning of the month, and may sleep outside or in a shelter instead of, say, renting a hotel. Shelters are more full in the winter. Plus, it’s easier to recruit volunteers. “In many communities, winter is the season when the public is most concerned about the ability of homeless people to survive, and many CoCs find it easier to recruit volunteers. A count on one of the coldest nights of the year can be very effective in raising public awareness of the challenges faced by
Open Table Nashville outreach workers and volunteers check on an unhoused friend during a cold night. IMAGE BY EMILY COOPER.
homeless people without shelter,” the HUD guide to the count reads. So each year, more than 100 volunteers venture into the night with flashlights, looking for people sleeping outside. This year, they brought NARCAN donated by the state, snacks, supplies for warmth and the promise of a $10 gift card for those who are awake and want to take the 40-question survey — 33 questions from HUD, seven added from Nashville’s Continuum of Care members. The safety tactic of announcing your presence, “outreach workers!” inevitably wakes some up, too. The other safety tactic is approaching in groups, and showing sensitivity and respect to those you may encounter. Those who can be seen and are sleeping are counted. Those who are sleeping and can’t be seen, like people in abandoned buildings or tents, are not counted and instead documented on a “Sign of Life” form, which are collected and redistributed to outreach workers following the count. Canvassing the city, and into the remote parts of wooded areas can be
scary, especially for newcomers. Team leads are meant to canvas the area ahead of time, to find places of habitation and let the people they do find know when the team will be back. “We're just lucky to have a number of folks who have done it year after year, who are pros at canvassing ahead of time and also relating with the population they find there,” Tolmie says. Ashley Blum, outreach coordinator for Park Center and 11-year team lead, says the antidote to the fear of this task is having team leaders that have experience, like outreach workers that are familiar with the area that their team is tasked with counting. “I have the most experience. I know that some people do feel scared sometimes. I've felt scared, I've felt fear,” she says. “I mean, I'm not going to go to an abandoned building. Like that's just not something that anyone should do. Unless, of course, you know someone that's in there, and you can call them or you can holler for their name.” Blum suggests uniform name badges for volunteers for next year. There are already car magnets to identify those
February 16 - March 2, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 9
working on the PIT count. She’d also like to see signs out near encampments to remind people of when the count will be, in case they’re at work or out when outreach workers do pre-canvassing. “I do know a lot of people don't don't feel safe going in the middle of the night and that's OK. You know, that's why we need to have experienced people on our teams and help guide the way,” she says. But it hasn’t always been exactly this way. Blum says in the past, outreach workers have done counting early in the morning, before people staying outdoors would leave for work. That ended for fear of double-counting. “Even though I know it does not give us a valid representation of the amount of people that live outside or that are unhoused, still, it's really important that we try our best to get as many people counted as possible. Because they deserve the help,” Blum says. “And if we can show HUD that there are still people living outdoors, maybe they'll send us more money so that we can help these folks more.” The count numbers are expected to be released in April.
