County measures homelessness to provide better assistance

While many Orange County residents could take refuge in warm homes during this week’s cold weather, the county’s homeless population likely had to face the blistering cold on its own.

In order to better serve homeless people who face these conditions, the county conducted its annual Point-in-Time Count Wednesday.

Since 2007, the total number of homeless people in the county has decreased 40 percent to 123 homeless people in 2013, according to data from the Point-in-Time Count.

The North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness partners with local homeless shelters and the Chapel Hill Police Department crisis unit to count the number of sheltered and unsheltered homeless people in the area within a 24-hour period.

In the past few years, Point-in-Time volunteers have been working to reach homeless people in more remote areas. The definition of “literally homeless” also became more strict in 2011, excluding those living with friends or relatives or staying in institutions.

Judy Klimcheck, the residential services director for the Inter-Faith Council, said the count is administered across the country annually in the last week of January.

“The count gives the federal government an idea of how many homeless people there are,” she said. “The real point is to try to get an accurate idea of the numbers that are homeless in our country.”

Elizabeth Waugh-Duford, the temporary coordinator of homelessness programs for the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness, said the count determines how much money the government will provide for programs that support homeless people in Orange County.

Klimcheck said local shelters, like the IFC, do their best at providing a variety of services for the homeless seeking help.

“We give them a roof over their head, provide meals, provide the Robert Nixon Free Clinic for medical and mental health needs, clothing, job coaching and other supportive services,” Klimcheck said.

During Wednesday’s count, the IFC was supporting 55 homeless people. There were also eight homeless people who came into the kitchen to eat, but who are staying elsewhere, according to Stephani Kilpatrick, a social worker at the council’s Community House.

Sarah Furman, a crisis counselor at the Chapel Hill Police Department, said due to the inclement weather, the crisis unit was unable to count the number of unsheltered homeless on the street. However, the numbers of homeless people in shelters and in other service-based organizations were still counted.

Waugh-Duford said the Chapel Hill police are proactive about reaching out to the homeless community and added that many of the homeless people are already familiar with them.

“It’s great to have the crisis unit which focuses a lot on the social work aspect of law enforcement. There are certainly a lot of law enforcement officers who have a lot of trust built up with some of the homeless folks.”

Even though the cancellation of the unsheltered count might affect data collection, Waugh-Duford said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development only requires the unsheltered portion of the count every two years.

Because of the cold weather, there are more homeless people seeking shelter than usual, and shelters and other service providers are doing their best to keep everyone out of the cold, Waugh-Duford said.

“During winter storms and nights when it is below freezing, the shelters have what is called a white flag night and essentially, anyone in need of emergency shelter can come in.”

city@dailytarheel.com