The Every One Counts is underway and goes through midday Friday. It’s part of the nationwide Point in Time Count mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which helps guide program development and funding for housing and supportive services.
Emily Fessler, continuum of care director at Community Partnership of the Ozarks, said, while the information gathered is important, it’s not an accurate picture of the number of unsheltered individuals in Springfield.
"There's definitely value in it. We can definitely use it to get some good data," she said. "However, locally, when we want to talk about those that are experiencing homelessness, we don't really want to utilize those numbers because we know that they're an underrepresentation of those that are experiencing housing instability. It's very specific definitions that are set by HUD as well as the fact that it is only one single night. And we know people are entering homelessness each and every day. People are leaving homelessness each and every day."
And she said there are people who are couch surfing or were able to pay for a hotel for one night, but they’re still experiencing homelessness.
HUD uses the data to look at trends and specific populations, according to Fessler, "so families, veterans, youth, chronically homeless and then what they're able to do is say, "okay, so we can see we've had a massive uptick in this population, what we need to do is look at funding programs dedicated to assisting that particular population.' "
Because much of the region's efforts to help those who are unsheltered relies on federal funds, it's important to provide HUD with as comprehensive and accurate account as they can, according to Fessler.
The count is also a chance for local folks working to combat homelessness to hear the stories of families and individuals and help connect them with the services they need.
Wednesday evening, workers and 60 volunteers are surveying those at the Crisis Cold Weather Shelters and on the streets. Thursday, they’ll be at several Springfield locations most of the day, and Friday morning they’ll be at a food pantry in Ozark.
Meanwhile, Fessler said they still need volunteers to serve at Cold Weather Crisis Shelters. On one recent very cold night, she said, they had to keep a shelter closed because there weren’t enough volunteers to staff it. Find out more at cpozarks.org.
