Some 200 volunteers will fan out across Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties to get a sense of the scope of the region’s homeless population. They’re combing the streets, woods and shelters taking a one-day snapshot of the homeless population.
Homeless Services Network reports that last year’s count came up with 2,112 homeless residents, 22 percent of them children.
“You can, year after year doing this count, get a handle are there more homeless people are there less homeless people. And really continue the process realizing numerically whether you’re making progress or not as a community,” said Andrae Bailey, CEO for the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness
Bailey said they’ll have an official count in a couple of months.
The federal government mandates the count, and under its guidelines does not include families living in hotels.
Clarification: The Point in Time Count happened on both January 20th and January 27, 2016
Click on the audio to hear an interview with Central Florida Commission on Homelessness CEO Andrae Bailey