Winston-Salem’s Point-In-Time count creates a snapshot of the city’s homeless population and connects them to resources. Here’s how you can help.

Featured photo: 2023 Point-in-Time volunteers Dennis Lambert, Adrienne Numaworse and Shereka Floyd, CoC Program Manager (photo by Gale Melcher)

On one of the last few nights in January, Winston-Salem and Forsyth County’s Continuum of Care (CoC) will survey the area in an attempt to count its homeless population. 

It’s called the Point-In-Time (PIT) count, and it doesn’t happen without volunteers.

The annual PIT count determines the services and resources that a community needs by counting both unsheltered and sheltered people experiencing homelessness. Unsheltered people may be those sleeping in their cars, parks, campgrounds etc., while sheltered people may be in transitional housing or staying in emergency shelters.

It’s required at least every other year by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, and is held in January per HUD regulations. This year’s count will take place on Jan. 29.

But PIT counts notoriously undercount the number of people experiencing homelessness, which leads to an underfunding by the government for programs that would help people secure housing.

According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, “[R]egardless of their methodology or execution, point in time counts fail to account for the transitory nature of homelessness and thus present a misleading picture of the crisis. Annual data, which better account for the movement of people in and out of homelessness over time, are significantly larger.” The center goes on to cite a 2001 study that used administrative data collected from homeless service providers, estimating that the annual number of homeless individuals is 2.5 to 10.2 times what PIT counts estimate.

The CoC is a community-wide system of care that includes City With Dwellings, the Bethesda Center, United Way of Forsyth County and more entities.

According to the city’s Housing Programs Manager Shereka Floyd, this means that many people who really need housing support and assistance can’t get it. 

“This causes our numbers to not accurately reflect the needs in our community,” Floyd told TCB in an email.

In 2022, 429 houseless people were counted in Forsyth County, dropping down to 396 in 2023 and going back up to 485 in 2024, according to Floyd.

And over the years, as the unsheltered population has increased, Floyd said that the city has also noticed an “increase in the number of families needing assistance.”

“On this night we try to engage with those who are living unsheltered and provide them information about resources they may not be aware of to assist with their housing instability,” she explained.

That’s why having volunteers to help count as many people as possible is so important.

“Having more volunteers allows more individuals to be counted,” Floyd stated, adding that it helps the CoC engage with unhoused individuals all across the city and connect them with resources.

How can you help?

The city urgently needs volunteers to sign up for street teams — going out and directly interacting with the homeless. The PIT count homebase will be stationed at the William C. Sims Sr. Community Center at 1201 Alder St. 

On Wednesday, Jan. 29, volunteers have two shift options from 6-8 p.m. or 9:30-11 p.m., and need to arrive 30 minutes before their shift starts. Volunteers must be over 18, able to walk moderate distances and able to attend one hour of training. 

There are multiple roles that need to be filled. 

Outbound volunteers can sign up alone or as a team of four to six people. They can choose to serve as interviewers who greet unsheltered folks and ask survey questions, scribes who write down or type their responses, drivers who will drive the team to the assigned area and will need a vehicle that can seat three to five people, or as a team lead who will make sure that all areas of the map are covered and all supplies are accounted for. They’ll also be the timekeeper, ensuring that the team returns to the homebase on time.

In-person trainings

Jan. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at City With Dwellings, 502 N. Broad St. 

Virtual trainings

Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. on Zoom

Jan. 15 at 10 a.m. on Zoom

Additionally, there’s a CoC council meeting on Jan. 14 at 9 a.m. at Goodwill, 2701 University Parkway. These meetings are open to the public.

Sign up here or go to https://form.jotform.com/242755945184164

What’s it like to participate in the PIT count?

On Jan. 29, it’s supposed to drop down to a low of 23 degrees, with a high of 39 degrees, according to AccuWeather’s forecast.

Volunteers should dress warmly and wear comfortable shoes, Floyd stated.

During last year’s PIT count, TCB talked to people experiencing homelessness. One explained that someone had come by his encampment, doused it in gasoline and set it on fire.

“How can people be so cruel?” a volunteer said.

Guilford County’s numbers are trending upward, too. In 2023, their volunteers counted 34 unsheltered people. Last year they counted 234, included in the total number of the county’s 665 homeless individuals.

Floyd also said that individuals looking to help throughout the year can reach out to CoC and partner agencies to assist households throughout the year with volunteering and donations.

People can also donate clothing items such as new socks, hygiene products, pop-top foods and snacks, as well as money and any essentials that could be beneficial to the count, Floyd stated.

Contact Marlene Davis at (743) 649-0734 or [email protected] to make donations.

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