Annual homeless count finds troubling increases
May 22—Midland Homeless Coalition (MHC) volunteers spent the early hours of Jan. 23 visiting shelters, encampments, and the streets to get a "snapshot" of homelessness in Midland. With temperatures dipping to 31 degrees and windchill at 15 degrees, these workers did not see just a single photograph but an entire motion picture featuring the invisible of our community — people experiencing homelessness.
John-Mark Echols of The Field's Edge coordinated this year's effort through associated agencies and community groups.
For 24 hours, these trained volunteers spearheaded by Thriving United counted and surveyed individuals staying in our community's emergency shelters, transitional housing, and unsheltered locations. To encourage participation in the count Breaking Bread Ministries and the Salvation Army collaborated with a multitude community partners to host resource events providing the homeless with meals, ID assistance, vaccines, bus passes, showers, and peer support, a news release said.
The results indicate the minimum number of individuals and families experiencing homelessness in our community on any given night. To be counted, individuals must qualify under the HUD definition of homeless — sleeping in a shelter, transitional housing, or in a place not meant for human habitation — and be individually surveyed by a volunteer. MHC recognizes that this means the PIT Count data will only represent a fraction of the homeless population in Midland.
Compared to the 2022 Point-In-Time (PIT) count, the number of homeless increased from 231 to 255 or 10%. The number of children counted rose from 60 to 64, while the number of female homeless decreased by nearly 25%. Veterans, the chronic homeless, serious mental illness, and substance abuse categories doubled from 2022 levels. Not all found that day agreed to be surveyed, so these statistics and other information gathered provide only a glimpse into the nature of and possible service to Midland's homeless.
The Midland Homeless Coalition uses the information collected to immediately align available resources with the daily living needs of our homeless neighbors. Meanwhile, MHC seeks to reframe the typical public mindset about the issue by presenting homelessness in the context of individuals and families in crisis. In proper Midland form, the coalition and partner agencies offer restoration to the homeless, meeting them at their points of need, and providing a path to dignity.
