MANSFIELD, Ohio — Harmony House participated in a 12-hour Point in Time count for Richland County homeless people Tuesday and identified four individuals.
Harmony House Executive Director Vicki Kane suspects there are more out there.
“There are usually around 100 homeless people on any given Point in Time count,” Kane said. She said doing the count during the winter might thwart the numbers because most homeless can be seen more readily during warmer months.
She also said this year might be different because of the lack of snow.
“It’s a little easier to see tracks going in and out of an abandoned building,” Kane said.
A Point in Time count is mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development if an organization receives funding from the governmental agency. The Point in Time count is done annually on Jan. 26.
Richland County has 30 census tracks, or areas, where homeless individuals are suspected to be living. The census tracks include neighborhoods with abandoned homes and buildings and other streets surrounded by buildings.
By 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the Richland County Coalition on Housing and Homelessness had scoured 22 of the 30 census tracks. Four individuals were identified as “unsheltered,” and two had been “observed.”
HUD categorizes the individuals as “sheltered,” “unsheltered” and “observed.” Administrators from housing organizations including Volunteers of America, Catalyst Life Services and Harmony House are given forms with questions to ask individuals they encounter on their searches.
“We’re looking for if they’re carrying bags or carts. We also look for them at abandoned buildings,” Kane said. “You can’t enter them (abandoned buildings) because that would be trespassing. You can stand outside and say ‘hello,’ but I didn’t even do that. I just kind of went up to see if there was anyone around.”
Kane said she found an abandoned building in Mansfield with ‘Walk in’ spray painted on the brick wall next to an open door. She said homeless individuals have been found there before.
“I didn’t find anybody there, though,” she said.
A worker affiliated with Volunteers of America who wished to remain anonymous said a homeless woman living at Planet Fitness in Ontario was observed. The worker was not able to confirm whether the woman was homeless from the interview, however.
“I wasn’t able to get all the information from her, so I put her on the census as ‘observed,’” the worker said.
Kane said homelessness in Richland County is not a huge, visible population. Harmony House served 1,006 homeless men, women and children in 2015. That number is up from 2014, where 912 were served.
The searchers also bring blankets, some food and packets of information about homeless shelters and different programs available throughout the county.
