La Grange-based BEDS Plus, an organization dedicated since 1988 to ending homelessness, is looking for volunteers to help with its participation in the Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2024 Point-in-Time count.
Point-In-Time is an annual effort by the federal government to quantify the number of homeless citizens on a given night in January of the year. Jan. 31 will be the night that BEDS Plus conducts its survey this year.
“Point-in-Time is really a national campaign to get an accurate count, or at least a reasonable estimation of the number of people who are homeless on a given night,” Tina Rounds, CEO of BEDS Plus, said in a recent telephone interview. “From that we get a data point for allocation of resources … it’s an important data point nationally.”
HUD’s report from last year showed that more than 650,000 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January, 2023, a 12 %increase over the count in January 2022.
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HUD’s website (hud.gov) defines homelessness as “individuals in shelters, temporary housing, and in unsheltered settings,” calling the count an annual snapshot.
The night involves teams of volunteers going out with regular outreach workers — and some former homeless volunteers — to try an identify where homeless people might be.
Rounds said that typical hot spots are all-night laundromats, fast food restaurants, police stations, and hospital emergency rooms.
“We find people we might not otherwise have found and we convince them to come into shelter, and start to accept help,” Rounds said. “There’s always success stories.”
The second part of the effort is a survey over the next two days, when emergency shelters, hospitals, and municipalities report their numbers of homeless already seeking care to the Continuum of Care, Suburban Cook County office, who then report the total to HUD.
Continuum of Care is part of the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County.
Volunteers undergo training before they go out to their assigned hot spots, usually four or five per volunteer team. They go the hot spots more than once, typically during evening hours.
With Continuum of Care still about 40 volunteers short of its goal for this year, Rounds urged those interested to join the effort.
“It’s an interesting way to serve,” Rounds said, “because you see how the network agencies and community-based organizations deal with the issue.”
For further information about the 2024 Point-In-Time count visit the Continuum of Care website, (suburbancook.org), and the BEDS Plus website, (beds-plus.org).
Or visit the BEDS Plus Facebook page.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.