Birmingham VA's Point in Time: Mapping Veteran homelessness
On a single night in January, in the heart of Birmingham, a dedicated team from the Birmingham VA embarked on a crucial mission along with scores of others.
Their goal was not only to count the homeless population but also to identify Veterans among them as part of the annual Point in Time (PIT) Count. Armed with clipboards, flashlights, and a deep sense of purpose, the volunteers fanned out across their assigned areas of the city, venturing into alleys, parks, and under bridges - places that have become makeshift homes for the city's most vulnerable.
What is the Point in Time?
The PIT Count is a method used in the United States to estimate the number of homeless people. It involves a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a single night in January. The PIT Count is conducted by local agencies called Continuums of Care (CoCs) on behalf of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
More than 20 staff volunteered to support the PIT Count for Birmingham VA—a fraction of the number of volunteers supporting the overall PIT Count across the City of Birmingham. As they moved through the shadowed streets, the volunteers encountered faces etched with the hard lines of life. Each person they met was more than just a number for their count; they were individuals with stories and struggles. The volunteers listened intently, capturing demographic information and piecing together the narrative of each person's journey to homelessness.
Data worth knowing
The volunteers' conversations revealed heart-wrenching tales of domestic abuse, the crippling grip of past incarcerations, the relentless struggle for employment, and the weight of high cost of living.
Knowledge of not only the number of homeless but also knowledge of homeless Veterans helps identify the services needed to continue to develop and request access to needed services. HUD also uses the data from PIT counts to evaluate the effectiveness of local agencies' efforts to address homelessness and to determine funding amounts for them. The data collected helps in understanding the scope and nature of homelessness, shaping public policy, and allocating resources effectively to address the issue.
Numbers matter
During the PIT Count each story was a thread in the complex tapestry of homelessness, and with each interaction, the volunteers' resolve to help grew stronger. They knew that the data collected that night would be vital in shaping policies and programs to address the myriad causes of homelessness, particularly among Veterans.
Volunteers shared blankets, toiletry items, and snacks to each person they encountered. Birmingham VA volunteers met 63 people living in conditions not considered a home, of that number 7 identified as being a Veteran, some of whom currently take advantage of VA health care. These numbers are submitted to HUD, who compiles counts from all groups participating during the point in time.