Nearly 600 volunteers survey Austin's homeless population

AUSTIN, Texas - Nearly 600 volunteers woke up early Sunday morning to take part in the Point-in-Time Count. 

The event involves volunteers conducting surveys with homeless people throughout Travis County. 

Hundreds of volunteers braved the rainy weather early Sunday morning, around 3 a.m., to help find as many homeless people as possible.

"I drive past those streets every day. And I didn't realize that just five feet behind that brush line and behind those trees. There are campsites, there's people living there. And you don't, you don't realize it and see it," volunteer, Marl Littlefield said.

What is the Point in Time count?

The Point-in-Time Count takes place every other year. 

It’s a one-night survey designed to identify homeless people living in Austin and Travis County—like those living in cars, tents, or abandoned buildings.

"We're going to wake them up and we're going to ask them questions about their experience, how they ended up here, what's happened to them, if they've ever sought assistance. And if we can get into services after that," Littlefield said.

The Ending Community Homelessness Coalition or ECHO organizes the federally mandated count. 

As the lead agency for the Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care, ECHO is responsible for planning and implementing community-wide strategies to end homelessness.

What they're saying:

"The Point in Time Count is our opportunity to have a better understanding of the scale of the crisis of homelessness for our community. So, this is data that we're able to utilize to help us understand what resources are needed, what programs need funding, and then go out and actually advocate for those things down the road," Angela de Leon, Director of Operations at ECHO, said.

Mark Littlefield has volunteered to take part in the count for several years. 

He says that over time, he realized he had never truly taken the opportunity to connect with the homeless people in his community.

"I thought that I might do this one time. I thought I might volunteer for this one year. One time. And now it's been over ten years. And. And it has. And it changed the way that I interact and feel about this issue ever since," Littlefield said.

The goal of the count is to capture a snapshot of the demographics of homeless people on a single night in Austin and Travis County.

By the numbers:

In 2023’s PIT count, ECHO says, 2,374 homeless people were accounted for. 

Out of that number, 1,108 homeless people were in shelters and 1,266 were unhoused.

"Anyone that's in a shelter will also get counted. But these folks that are here tonight are going to be doing the unsheltered count," de Leon said.

What's next:

After the work on the ground is completed, the Point in Time Count is compiled into a report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine how much federal funding Austin Travis County Continuum of Care will receive in its next budget. 

The findings from the count are typically released in the springtime.