WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas — This week, homeless coalitions in Central Texas will hit the streets as part of the Point-in-Time count.
The Point-in-Time count happens statewide over a period of a couple weeks. It is run by the Texas Homeless Network, which works with coalitions like The Wilco Homeless Coalition.
"We have teams in Cedar Park, Leander, Round Rock, Georgetown and Taylor," said Christel Erickson-Collins, vice president of the WilCo Homeless Coalition.
Volunteers who went through a training will join them. There are about 100 registered.
"It is really important because it’s a data point on what homelessness looks like in Williamson County, so the more data we can have and this is one data point, the better we can be more resourced," Erickson-Collins said.
Austin-Travis County is also participating this Friday. ECHO, or the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, is leading the effort in Travis County and is looking for about 1,000 volunteers.
Erickson-Collins said these counts can help cities with more resources.
As part of the count, the groups will ask people experiencing homeless a number of questions.
"It will ask demographic information, and then it will also ask about experience of homelessness – how long they have been homeless, what kind of contributing factors went into their becoming homeless," Erickson-Collins said.
The data from the Point-in-Time count will be sent to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Erickson-Collins said she looks forward to the count this week.
"It is also a great opportunity for community members to engage with those experiencing homeless in a safe way for everyone," she said.