The point-in-time survey typically involves teams moving throughout the community to count homeless residents living in shelters and on the streets.
But this year, the Continuum of Care, or CoC, also put on a resource fair, called the “Homeless Stand Down” event. It combines the survey with an opportunity for homeless families and individuals to reach services.
Director Judy Herring said the Homeless Stand-Down event gives people options for how their data is collected, as some people may not want to reveal where they’re living.
“A lot of times, it's uncomfortable to give information for nothing, especially if you feel exposed and vulnerable. And so we were able to interact with people and connect them to services and hopefully, create some goodwill," she said.
Herring said the Homeless Stand Down event had a good turnout, but she would like to see more next time. The name is a play on Veteran Stand Down events, which provide services to homeless veterans.
Herring said the agency hopes the events will help expand their reach into more rural areas in the region.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, requires CoCs to take a count each year, but the data takes two years to come out. The data isn’t meant to be a definitive number, but rather a sample of people experiencing homelessness in a community at one point in time.
The field survey in Brunswick County took place Tuesday, January 24. Another homeless stand-down event and field survey will take place Thursday, January 26 in Pender County.
