(Atlantic) The 2nd annual Point-In-Time Count is taking place in Cass County this month.
Tim Wilson, with the non-profit organization Home Forward Iowa, said the Point-In-Time Count is something that happens nationally. The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development requires that communities do this every year at the end of January to gather data on the number of homeless individuals in the area. These numbers are used to distribute grant monies to counties in order to provide resources for the homeless. In Iowa, the count is taking place on the night of January 29th into the morning of the 30th.
“It’s a focus on counting anyone and everyone who is experiencing literal homelessness, which means they are in a public or private location that is not meant for human habitation – under a bridge, in a car in a parking lot, in a tent in a park, on a park bench, in an unheated trailer, in somebody’s garage, all of the above,” explained Wilson.
Wilson said there are more homeless people in rural areas than what most people realize.
“Studies have indicated that the homeless rate in rural communities is about half the rate of what it is in urban areas. So, obviously there is less population and it’s more spread out, it also typically means that people are harder to find. It is certainly less obvious in communities where somebody might be in an abandoned farm building or in a park that is not traversed regularly,” said Wilson. “We’re thinking about the guy pushing a shopping cart down the alley that you might see in the larger cities, we don’t have that typically, it’s more hidden.”
If you know someone who is homeless, contact LuAnn Ihnken at 712-250-4547 or Rex Pharmacy at 712-243-2110 so they can account for those individuals.
Cass County Memorial Hospital and CLEAN are collecting items for the Point-In-Time Count. Items include soap, hygiene items, travel toiletry kits, hats, gloves, socks, blankets, book bags or other duffel bags, and non-perishable food items (canned items must have a pull tab). Donations can be dropped off at the Atlantic Medical Center Admissions until January 25th.
Book bags with amenities will be distributed to the homeless individuals that are encountered.
