Point in Time captures snapshot of homeless
Marie Jackson drives slowly past a neglected ball field trying to see if anyone is huddled in the old dugout.
There is no one there today.
With surveys in hand and the trunk of her car full of bags of necessities, Jackson cruises past building awnings, street corners, wooded areas and the train tracks around Shelby before heading uptown where she parks and approaches a man slumped on a bench.
It is time for the 2023 Point in Time Count, and a crew of volunteers left from the emergency men’s shelter on Julius Street Tuesday afternoon to complete surveys on the number of unhoused in Cleveland County.
HUD requires that Continuums of Care conduct an annual count of people experiencing homelessness who are sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and safe havens on a single night.
The numbers will be turned in to a national organization that tracks data on the homeless population in counties around the nation as well as available shelters and transitional housing in that county.
Jackson greets the man on the bench and initiates a conversation to find out where he’s sleeping and asks if he’ll take a bag of items, which he eagerly accepts. She explains how the mylar blanket works and how he can pull it around himself on cold nights to keep his body heat trapped close beside him. He typically sleeps huddled in the alcove of a building but says he is getting an apartment soon, with payments from a disability check from a car wreck that happened 10 years ago. He tells her he is having trouble accessing his money from the ATM.
Once the conversation is complete, Jackson fills out the survey with his name and other basic information, including where he shelters at night, whether that entails an encampment outside, in a car, an abandoned building, a bus station or a commercial establishment. This information will be turned in for the annual Point in Time count which takes place each January. The count records the number of people experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness to capture a snapshot of need.
Jackson said volunteers will spend the afternoon and evening going around the county talking to people and recording numbers. They will visit soup kitchens, motels that house the sheltered homeless, and local shelters.
Jackson said this is her fifth year participating, and they had around five cars go out around 3 p.m. Tuesday.
“We started earlier this year,” she said. “People hunker down after dark, and you’re invading their privacy and space.”
Jackson stops and talks to a man sitting on the steps of an empty building with his few belongings beside him and a cane propped by his feet. He confirms he’s been sleeping outside and said he and a friend had just walked across town because they had heard of a place giving out free phones. Jackson offers him extra gloves, a scarf and warm hat and tells him about the local emergency shelter where he can stay the night and get a hot meal and a shower.
She remembers the faces of past people she’s spoken with, including a woman who was formerly a registered nurse but is now homeless.
She asks where they’re sleeping and if they own or rent a home.
Jackson said they have until Monday to turn in all the data.
Cleveland County Rescue Mission operates a women’s shelter on Buffalo Street and recently opened an emergency men’s shelter on Julius Street that allows them to come in and find shelter for the night during the cold winter months. Trailhead Resources recently relocated their building to Gidney Street and hope to be up and running by March.
Rebecca Sitzes can be reached at rsitzes@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Point in Time captures snapshot of the unhoused
