On July 22 and 23, the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless will hold its first-ever summer Point in Time Count, and it’s looking for community members’ help.
The Point in Time Count, or PIT Count, is mandated by the federal government and is meant to provide a snapshot of how many people are experiencing homelessness in communities all across the country. It’s held every year, on the fourth Wednesday of January. But in recent years, some communities have started doing a second count in the summer to get a better understanding of who in their community is experiencing homelessness and why.
“Conducting a summer Point in Time Count has been on my radar since I stepped into this role about two and a half years ago,” said Shayla Washington, executive director of the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless. BRACH is a local nonprofit organization that coordinates services among the area’s homeless service providers, including The Haven day shelter and People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry (PACEM), a nonprofit that runs an overnight shelter during the colder months.
“I believe a summer count will more accurately identify the number of beds that are truly needed for people who are unsheltered in the warmer months when our seasonal shelter, PACEM, is not open,” Washington said.
Getting a sense of that need is important, because BRACH, The Haven and PACEM are currently working together with the City of Charlottesville on a plan for a year-round overnight low-barrier shelter located in a former office building at 200 Holiday Dr.
Currently, the area doesn’t have enough shelter beds to serve everyone who needs one.
In order to conduct the count accurately, BRACH needs help, and Washington hopes community members will want to pitch in.
“BRACH is only a staff of three, and we need to survey dozens of locations in a short period of time,” Washington said. The count starts at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 22 and goes through 8 a.m Thursday, July 23.
Community members interested in volunteering can sign up online for a particular location and time slot. BRACH will host training sessions prior to the event so that volunteers can learn how to interact with unhoused community members in a safe and respectful way, and how to properly conduct the survey.
Take action
Here’s how you can help with the summer count of people experiencing homelessness.
Sign up online to volunteer for the Blue Ridge Area Coalition’s summer Point In Time Count on July 22 and 23. The goal of the count is to get a better understanding of how many people in the Charlottesville area community are experiencing homelessness during the summer months. BRACH will host training sessions for all volunteers prior to the event.
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