Fairfield County Homeless Study
Fairfield Forward and the United Way of the Midlands will be hosting the 2024 Point in Time Homeless Count.
Since 2005, HUD has required applicants for federal homeless assistance grants to count and report the number of people experiencing homelessness in their communities on one night during the last ten days of January. PIT Counts across the country are used as a primary data source to inform federal funding for programs and services to end homelessness and to track progress against established goals.
The PIT count is designed to provide the following:
- Gives local policymakers, researchers, service providers, and others working to end homelessness a sense of where progress is being made and where/how resources should be prioritized.
- Helps identify gaps and service needs to develop additional programming.
- Engages community members in meaningful activity directed at reducing and ending homelessness.
- Builds community capacity to address the issue.
- Living in places ‘not meant for human habitation.’
The count starts the evening of January 24, 2024, and continues through January 28, 2024. The purpose of this count is to give a snapshot of the homeless situation in Fairfield on January 24, 2024, so volunteers will be inquiring where the individual or family stayed on the night of January 24, 2024.
Who we Count:
The PIT uses the definition of homelessness from HUD:
- Motel paid for by someone other than the client.
- People in shelters or transitional (medium term) shelters.
- Doubled up
People we know need help, but NOT included in the HUD definition:
- In a motel the client is paying for even if temporary and/or a group is sharing the cost
- People incarcerated or in the hospital for more than 90 days.
Volunteers are needed to conduct counts in your area. For more information or to volunteer contact: Eric Rosdail at (803) 429-5510
