Point-in-Time Count assesses homelessness

Volunteers and local organizations came out to help assess the local homeless population during the Point-in-Time Count in Snohomish County on Jan. 23.

The national count is meant to assess the number of homeless individuals in each community.

Last year there were 599 homeless individuals counted as part of the event.

“It’s going really well. We just had about 20-ish volunteers this morning,” said Nikki Rossiter, volunteer and community engagement manager at Housing Hope and coordinator for the north Snohomish County event, headquartered in Smokey Point.

“They went through their training and are now out canvassing people for surveys,” said Rossiter.

The national count happens on the same day for every community, rain or shine.

“It’s a little harder to find people because of the weather. Sometimes that’s the case, but we try to have services like laundry,” said Rossiter.

The north county event partnered with Smokey Point laundromat Suds ’n Duds, as they have done for the past few years, to provide laundry services to homeless individuals.

The service helps bring in homeless individuals to be counted.

“That is our main thing and it’s pretty successful in the past. We’ve been able to do a lot of surveys there,” said Rossiter.

Many of the people who come out for the event are volunteers, although some are working with local non-profit organizations as well, such as Housing Hope, Cocoon House or local veteran services.

Volunteers said they wanted to help homeless people and local organizations.

“We need an accurate count to provide accurate resources,” said volunteer Josh Hillhouse.

“I just want to make sure people get the resources they need so they’re not freezing or anything like that. Just give them a little bit of love,” said volunteer Paul Olson.

The Point-in-Time Count provides information to local organizations that can be used to address regional need.

“It’s really important to get a measurement of what the need is and what homelessness exists in the county. We know that it won’t be an accurate count of exactly how many people there are, but what it can show are trends,” said Rossiter.

Parts of the survey also show the different demographics of the local homeless population, which is useful for nonprofit organizations.

“We can show the trends from year-to-year. We’re not expecting we’ll be able to count every person there is, but we’re going to do the best we can and can show how this year compares to last year,” said Rossiter.

“That’s really important when federal funding and state funding comes into play, that they can see where the need is,” she said.

Event organizers wanted to thank all those who came out to help with the day.

“I’m just grateful that so many people participate and feel their value in this process,” said Brea Armbruster, marketing manager with Housing Hope.

“I think it shows there really is a heart for this in the community. People really do what to address homelessness,” said Rossiter.