Annual Point in Time Count – January 25, 2012
The Toledo Area Alliance to End Homelessness (TAAEH) and the Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board (TLCHB) will count homeless individuals throughout Lucas County on Wednesday January 25, capturing a snapshot of the homeless situation on January 24th. It will count the number of individuals who are unsheltered, living on the streets or precariously housed and will occur at United Way 2-1-1; hot meal sites; food pantries; and street outreach. It will also count those homeless individuals residing in shelters and transitional housing facilities throughout the area. The count will serve as a comparison to the annual January counts conducted in 2011 and 2010.
According to Debbie Conklin, Executive Director of the Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board, “the importance of this count is imperative to our community. It provides critical information for HUD and other grants. It’s a broad community project enlisting the efforts of many agencies and individuals including the homeless that acknowledges and increases awareness of our community’s homelessness. But most importantly, over time, as we track our bed distribution in shelter and transitional housing, housing needs and other variables, we can better identify and maximize solutions that work in preventing, reducing and ultimately ending homelessness.” The estimated number of homeless individuals living in our community is approximately 1,000. However, no matter what the number, it is still unacceptable until everyone has a place to call home. The count will more accurately reflect the number of unsheltered individuals and help the community outline the steps and secure the federal funding needed to best meet their needs.