County needs volunteers to help count homeless population Jan. 24-25, 2024

Each year, the Prince William Area Continuum of Care asks for volunteers to help with the Point In Time, or PIT, count, which counts those people in the local area who are experiencing homelessness on a single night in January.  In 2024 the PIT count will be conducted throughout the 24-hour-period of Jan. 24, ending Jan. 25, 2024, with multiple shifts throughout the day and night.

Registration to volunteer closes on Dec. 5, 2023, at 11:30 p.m. To volunteer go to bit.ly/2024-PWA-PIT to learn about requirements and responsibilities and to register to assist with the PIT count. After completing registration, perspective volunteers will be prompted to provide additional information and to choose a shift.

The count is a requirement for regional Continuums of Care for Homeless Services that receive federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). The federal agency requires that the PIT count be completed nationally during the third week of January.

Volunteers, led by an experienced team leader, are needed to spread out across Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park to complete the “unsheltered” portion of the count. This involves visiting places where persons experiencing homelessness are sleeping in a “place not meant for human habitation” (such as in a vehicle, an abandoned building, or anywhere outside). Volunteers will complete surveys with participants at pre-identified locations, a Prince William County Government news release said.

The data collected during the PIT count will determine funding decisions, identify service gaps and raise public awareness about homelessness, according to the news release.

The Prince William Area Continuum of Care (PWA CoC) is the lead organization in completing the work to prevent and to end homelessness in the Prince William area. The county’s Department of Social Services is the lead for the PWA CoC, which takes in Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

More information about PWA CoC and the PIT is available at pwcva.gov/department/social-services/about-continuum-care. Email questions to the Prince William County Department of Social Services Homeless Services Team at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).