SIKESTON — On Jan. 26, Delta Area Economic Opportunity Corporation, or DAEOC, will be leading an annual count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless population in the area, and volunteers are needed.
The Point in Time Count is an initiative to count the homeless population throughout the 101 counties of the Missouri Balance of State Continuum of Care. The homeless population census will assess the number of homeless individuals and families following regulations set forth by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the night of Jan. 26.
HUD requires the count occur biennially during the last 10 days of January to gauge progress towards national goals of reducing and ending homelessness. In addition to the biennial count required by HUD, the Missouri Balance of State Continuum of Care conducts an annual count to better track trends and needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
Each county’s leader is responsible for ensuring volunteers record unsheltered survey results in a secure, web-based platform, and the lead agency of the Missouri Balance of State Continuum of Care then submits the data to HUD. Sheltered survey information is reported to the Institute for Community Alliances.
For 2022, DAEOC will be leading the count for Stoddard, Scott and New Madrid counties. Last year, Stoddard County had 1 unsheltered, Scott County had 11 unsheltered, and New Madrid County had 8 unsheltered individuals.
To complete the point-in-time count, county leaders need community volunteers to help complete surveys.
Anyone interested in volunteering, please call 573-471-6014 or 573-379-3851 ext. 121.