If you know someone who is experiencing homelessness, please contact Home For Good so the organization can help to connect them with the services and opportunities they may need.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Homelessness increased in Columbus for the first time since 2016, according to data produced by Home For Good; a program of the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley.
During the city council meeting held on January 3, Ms. Pat Frey of Home For Good presented a briefing to city officials on the current state of homelessness in Columbus. Frey placed special significance on how the organization’s data shows a 2% increase in homelessness from 2021.
THE TREND REVERSAL
According to Home For Good’s data, this is the first increase the city has seen since at least prior to 2016 — and the count is expected to increase again this year by at least the same percentage.
Frey described the changing trend as an unfortunately-expected one, saying organizations nationwide were expecting the increase to be a far worse:
“Our numbers (in Columbus) over the past years,” Frey began, “have been on slow but steady decline — which is very exciting. Last year, we had a little trepidation about what the numbers would look like, because everybody across the country was predicting a 15 to 20 percent increase in numbers. We (in Columbus) were projecting that so we (would have) some cushion.
NEW DATA COMING
Frey went on to say that a similar increase is expected for this year’s count in 2023 as well:
“We did have a two percent increase in homelessness between 2021 and 2022, and we are anticipating about that (same 2% increase again) this year — maybe a little bit more.”
The new 2023 data Frey was referring to was just collected over the past two nights on January 23-24. It is now awaiting the organization’s publication through their website.
We reached out to a representative from Home For Good to ask when that new data will be available. The organization was kind enough to provide a timely response informing us that the new data will be available for viewing within 2-3 weeks after last night’s collection.
What’s even more remarkable is how that important data is collected by the organization on an annual basis.
(Update: View our follow-up article with this year's new data after you finish learning about Home For Good below.)
A POINT IN TIME
Each year, Home For Good conducts what is called a “Point In Time” Count, or PIT Count, for short.
According to a slide deck produced by Home For Good, a PIT count is “a literal count of all the people experiencing homelessness in our community on a single night.” Trained volunteers venture out into our community to count and survey those who are experiencing both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness.
The two-day event is conducted nation-wide each year during the last ten days of January, though last year’s count in 2022 was delayed until February due to the pandemic.
Frey described the data collection event in her own words during her presentation at the city council meeting earlier this month. Frey explained the details of how Home For Good goes above and beyond by not only counting heads, but by interviewing those they count and linking them up with the right services:
“For those of you who are not familiar,” Frey said, “it's a mandate that we have for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to physically enumerate everyone experiencing homelessness in our community. But we take it a step further. We don't just go and count heads.What we do is we assess needs. We have about a 17 question survey that we do, which mirrors the intake we do in our normal day-to-day life … it starts the process of getting someone from homelessness to housing at that initial interaction. So, we're doing those assessments of those experiencing homelessness, and then making sure that we're making connections —within that week— with those individuals and families that are experiencing homelessness to resources that can help them to access temporary, and then ultimately, permanent housing.”
PEOPLE FIRST
We’d like to commend Home For Good for their continued effort to develop people by going above and beyond to connect them with the resources and opportunities they may desperately need. Thank you for viewing the self-empowerment of the individual as the cornerstone of our community’s future, and for recognizing that our community is made of its people, not its buildings.
Perhaps that approach can be mirrored through other areas of our city’s escape from urban decay.
If you know someone who is experiencing homelessness, please contact Home For Good so the organization can help to connect them with the services and opportunities they may need.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
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