{"id":20812,"date":"2025-01-12T21:31:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T02:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?post_type=wfsu-news&#038;p=20812"},"modified":"2025-01-13T11:41:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T16:41:20","slug":"the-nations-annual-survey-of-homelessness-seeks-volunteers-in-the-big-bend","status":"publish","type":"wfsu-news","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-nations-annual-survey-of-homelessness-seeks-volunteers-in-the-big-bend\/","title":{"rendered":"The nation\u2019s annual survey of homelessness seeks volunteers in the Big Bend"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-20812-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/01\/pitcount0112ss.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/01\/pitcount0112ss.mp3\">https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/01\/pitcount0112ss.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>The nation\u2019s annual survey of homelessness will take place during the last full week of January. That\u2019s when local social service agencies, like the Big Bend Continuum of Care, fan out into communities to take stock of who is unsheltered.<\/p>\n<p>The Point in Time Count takes place across the country at the same time. It\u2019s required for communities receiving federal funding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDozens of volunteers will go out with trained counselors, out throughout Leon County, meeting up and interviewing people that are on the street about their homelessness situation,&#8221; said Leon County Commissioner Rick Minor, who volunteers for the survey every year. &#8220;It basically allows us to get a snapshot of the status of homelessness in Leon County.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The data collected during the PIT Count tells policymakers at the state, national, and local levels about the scale and nature of homelessness in a given area. It also guides funding decisions and strategies.<\/p>\n<p>Johnna Coleman is the executive director of the Big Bend Continuum of Care, which leads the Point in Time Count in the region. Each year, she and a group of volunteers and paid staffers take to the streets &#8212; and everything in between &#8212; to seek out people who are unhoused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it gives people a first-hand opportunity to engage and see what homelessness looks like,&#8221; Coleman said, &#8220;and often you may just figure out that what you really thought homelessness looks like, it really doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to federal data, homelessness increased across the country by 18 percent last year, while Leon County saw a 5 percent hike. This year\u2019s survey comes amid new Florida laws aimed at preventing local governments from allowing people to sleep on public property while letting businesses sue over the issue.<\/p>\n<p>To volunteer, go to:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bigbendcoc.org\/2025-point-in-time\/\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>https:\/\/bigbendcoc.org\/2025-point-in-time\/<\/u><\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2025 WFSU<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":20813,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[],"tags":[1136,1135],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The nation\u2019s annual survey of homelessness seeks volunteers in the Big Bend - WFSU Local Routes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-nations-annual-survey-of-homelessness-seeks-volunteers-in-the-big-bend\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The nation\u2019s annual survey of homelessness seeks volunteers in the Big Bend - WFSU Local Routes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The nation\u2019s annual survey of homelessness will take place during the last full week of January. That\u2019s when local social service agencies like the Big Bend Continuum of Care, fan out into communities to take stock of who is unsheltered.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-nations-annual-survey-of-homelessness-seeks-volunteers-in-the-big-bend\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WFSU Local Routes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-13T16:41:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/homeless-old-woman-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-nations-annual-survey-of-homelessness-seeks-volunteers-in-the-big-bend\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-nations-annual-survey-of-homelessness-seeks-volunteers-in-the-big-bend\/\",\"name\":\"The nation\u2019s annual survey of homelessness seeks volunteers in the Big Bend - WFSU Local Routes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-13T02:31:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-13T16:41:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-nations-annual-survey-of-homelessness-seeks-volunteers-in-the-big-bend\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-nations-annual-survey-of-homelessness-seeks-volunteers-in-the-big-bend\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-nations-annual-survey-of-homelessness-seeks-volunteers-in-the-big-bend\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The nation\u2019s annual survey of homelessness seeks volunteers in the Big Bend\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/\",\"name\":\"WFSU Local Routes\",\"description\":\"Local stories from northern Florida and southern Georgia.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The nation\u2019s annual survey of homelessness seeks volunteers in the Big Bend - WFSU Local Routes","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-nations-annual-survey-of-homelessness-seeks-volunteers-in-the-big-bend\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The nation\u2019s annual survey of homelessness seeks volunteers in the Big Bend - WFSU Local Routes","og_description":"The nation\u2019s annual survey of homelessness will take place during the last full week of January. 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