What is the PIT Count?
“The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a single night in January. HUD requires that Continuums of Care conduct an annual count of homeless persons who are sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Safe Havens on a single night. Continuums of Care also must conduct a count of unsheltered homeless persons.”
Why do the PIT Count?
It helps us understand the scope of homelessness and identify trends
- Target resources, Improve Services and Identify Gaps
Use Data to Justify Current and New Services and Programs
- Data helps tell our story and make the case for more resources
- Helps raise community awareness and political awareness
Critical source of national, state, and local data on the number and characteristics of people who are homeless in the U.S.
- HUD requires Continuums of Care (CoCs) to count the number of people experiencing homelessness in the geographic area that they serve through the Point-in-Time count (PIT) each year.
- Provided to Congress as part of the Annual Homeless Assessment Report
- Main Source of data for Opening Doors: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
- State’s Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness uses PIT data as it’s main data tool to measure effectiveness.
What can I do?
The Gulf Coast Partnership is seeking volunteers to help the 2018 PIT Count in Charlotte County. Volunteers will need to attend one training session and participate on the morning of January 25th from 6am to 10am.
Training dates are January 3rd, 16th, and 23rd from 9am to Noon at the Charlotte Community Foundation in Punta Gorda.
Below you will find the documents used for the PIT Count as well as this year’s training slides.
If you would like to volunteer, please contact Gaither Stephens at 941-626-0220 or [email protected].