Press Releases
Montgomery County Recruiting Volunteers for the 2023 ‘Point-In-Time Homeless Count’ That Provides Data for Allocating Resources for Those Experiencing Homelessness
For Immediate Release: Thursday, December 15, 2022
Montgomery County’s annual “Point-In-Time (PIT) Street Count is scheduled for the overnight hours of Wednesday, Jan. 25, and volunteers are needed to help survey unsheltered individuals and households. The County Continuum of Care, the County’s local planning body that coordinates housing, services and funding for homeless families and individuals, organizes the effort in partnership with service providers in the community.
Volunteers are needed to survey unhoused neighbors. Volunteers will receive training, be organized in teams and go out to designated locations where it is believed unsheltered persons may be located. Training will be provided to fully prepare volunteers to engage with people experiencing homelessness and administer the survey.
The PIT count is done throughout the United States. It is a way to identify people who might be residing on the streets, in cars, on campgrounds, under bridges, or in similar places.
The information gathered is used at the local, State, and Federal levels to allocate resources for individuals and households requiring homelessness assistance. The annual count is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to qualify for Federal funding.
“The annual Point-In-Time count is truly an all-hands-on-deck team effort by government, our community partners and volunteers. I encourage willing and interested Montgomery County residents to come out and volunteer,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “The information we gather from this event is critical to our efforts in ensuring that homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring in Montgomery County.”
There will be a hybrid training at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25, at the Mid-County Department of Health and Human Services Building, which is located at 1301 Piccard Drive in Rockville. The in-person training is recommended for first-time volunteers, with the hybrid option for returning volunteers. Register to volunteer here by Jan. 20.
For more information about the Continuum of Care and the County’s vision of ‘Housing for All,’ visit its website. Questions about the PIT Count can be emailed to [email protected].
To view a video of a recent PIT count, visit the County Council’s YouTube channel.
Media Contact: Mary Anderson
Categories: Health