HART’s Point In Time Count Almost Ready To Launch

The Homeless Advocacy for Rural Tennessee (HART) met this morning in preparation for their upcoming Point In Time Count.

Executive Director of the Crossville Housing Development and HART member Terry Burdett said the data collected is critical for future government plans.

“The federal government requires a count every other year,” Burdett said. “What happens is we take [the data to] the HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development). This is something published so that Congress has an idea of changes in homelessness.”

Once the Point In Time Count is complete, HART will spend time with other associations to compile the data, which will take a few weeks to complete.

The annual count will take place January 28. HART members enter homeless shelters and communities to count the population and intake demographic information. Last year 300 individuals counted as homeless, Burdett said.

“Being that it is only a couple weeks away, we typically in January go over the survey form that we use and reiterate who is homeless for our definition of the Point In Time Count. It is very restrictive as to what a homeless individual is.”

HART focuses on rural homelessness in the Upper Cumberland. Burdett said state and federal governments have different definitions of homelessness, and is important to specifically define local homelessness.

They are in need of volunteers who have information where the homeless go for shelter in wooded areas. Burdett said it’s difficult to have an accurate number over a large span of area.

“If you’re living in a big city, let’s just say Nashville, there are streets that homeless people gather. There are homeless encampments and it’s kinda easy to go into these locations and do a count, Burdett said. “But when we’re dealing with rural homelessness, there’s 6,000 square miles of real estate. There’s no way to search the whole area.”

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