(Credit: KLBJ staff)
Every year the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) leads several hundred volunteers in conducting the Point In Time (PIT) Count, which is a survey of the number of homeless people in Austin and Travis County. The 2020 PIT Count is scheduled for January 25th, and ECHO is looking to recruit a total of 800 volunteers.
The annual PIT Count gathers data needed to secure federal funding and to help shape our local homeless response system.
“The Point In Time Count is a crucial instrument for measuring our community’s progress towards federal benchmarks for ending and preventing homelessness” says ECHO Executive Director Matthew Mollica. “Working with partners and volunteers to produce the most accurate count of people experiencing homelessness in Austin/Travis County is critical to demonstrate the increased funding necessary to end homelessness in our community.”
According to ECHO, on the day of the event, teams of trained volunteers will head out early in the morning to locate and survey everyone experiencing homelessness in their assigned geographic area. Volunteers are also needed to collect donations for the care packages distributed during the Count. The care packages include items such as hygiene supplies, socks, gloves, warm hats, and non-perishable snacks.
“We’re excited by the level of community support we’ve seen so far,” says PIT Count volunteer coordinator Axton Nichols. “But we’ll need even more volunteers to make the PIT Count truly successful.”
All volunteers must complete a mandatory training, either in person or online, prior to participating in the PIT Count.
As of January 2019, ECHO’s count is 2255 homeless people in Austin and Travis County. The number counted in 2018 was 2147.
