COLUMBUS – Volunteers will hit the streets of Columbus early Wednesday morning for the annual count of homeless people in Columbus and Franklin County.
The number of homeless people living in shelters, on the streets or in transitional housing remained virtually unchanged last year, compared to 2015 when the number jumped 7 percent from the 2014 total, according to data compiled by the Community Shelter Board.
In 2016, the count reported a total of 1,721 homeless men, women and children: 1,244 in shelters; 339 unsheltered and another 141 in transitional housing. In 2015, the total number of homeless people was 1,721
The board says Columbus shelters more homeless women and large families than the national as a whole, according to the board.
Annual “point-in-time” counts are conducted across the nation in late January in compliance with a funding requirement by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Volunteers will visit the area’s streets and known encampments while workers at soup kitchens and other feeding sites will provide data while the board’s homeless management information system will be used to capture the number of people sheltered overnight leading up to Jan 25 and service agencies that have clients experiencing homelessness will conduct counts of their own, said Sara Loken, the board’s community relations director.