KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Crucial work got underway Wednesday night to tally how many people in our state don't have a place to call home — one night where volunteers across the state spent time counting the number of people living on the streets.
“We conduct what is called the point-in-time count,” Grand Rapids-Area Coalition to End Homelessness Director Courtney Myers-Keaton said.
This count matters more than just the data and can impact future funding and resources for our area. A couple dozen volunteers spent several hours going around Grand Rapids and Kent County to understand the need.
“Looking for people who are unsheltered and conducting a scan, an interview so that we can get information about what the experience of homelessness looks like in Kent County,” Meyers-Keaton said.
This is part of the United States Department of Housing & Urban Development's annual report, which is meant to better understand communities around the country.
“That point-in-time count is a snapshot of how many people are experiencing homelessness on one singular night,” Meyers-Keaton added. “We have seen an increase in the experience of homelessness in our community. We've seen a steady rise in our annual point-in-time counts and also our total annual numbers.”
The director of the Grand Rapids-Area Coalition to End Homelessness adds that the organization's work can help lift people up.
“We look at our bed utilization rates for shelter, transitional housing and our permanent housing resources, and then we figure out what we need more of and what we need to adjust in order to meet the need,” she added.
Grand Rapids-Area Coalition to End Homelessness data shows that last year, there were 1,089 people unhoused that night. It shows that 110 were living on the streets, 17 of whom were kids.
“Heartside is a really common area for us to see people sleeping outside Belknap Park. That's an area that people tend to go to. Off of Fuller, basically anywhere that there's enough open space where people feel comfortable hiding away from the general population,” Meyers-Keaton said.
These volunteers are more than counting heads. They're lending a helping hand by passing out bags.
“[The bags contain] essential items as well as bus passes, and we offer those so that in exchange for them potentially answer questions,” Meyers-Keaton said.
Meyers-Keaton explains we could see an initial report in two to three weeks.
Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube
