Homeless Leadership Coalition to begin Central Oregon’s annual Point in Time Count on Tuesday, Jan. 23

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Homeless Leadership Coalition, Central Oregon’s Continuum of Care, will be kicking off the annual Point in Time Count in Central Oregon on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024. The count is part of a state and national effort to identify the number of individuals experiencing homelessness.

A complete count greatly impacts the amount of available funding for homeless services in our region and provides a snapshot of the growing housing and homelessness crisis.

The Point in Time Count attempts to capture data on both sheltered and unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness to provide a snapshot of homelessness in the United States.

In addition to the total number of sheltered and unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness, information is gathered on a wide range of characteristics of those experiencing homelessness including age, gender, race, ethnicity, veteran status, and disability status. 

Individuals and families counted through this effort include people living in:

• Shelters
• Transitional housing
• “Doubled up” or precariously housed with families/friends.
• Camping, sleeping outdoors or in cars or RVs without full hookup.
• Other places not designed for human habitation.

Locally, starting on Tuesday, January 23rd, and ending on January 30th, the HLC will be working with community partners to assist in conducting the confidential and anonymous surveys in La Pine, Bend, Sisters, Redmond, Prineville, Madras, and Warm Springs.

The HLC has organized a service-based count, leveraging already existing partnerships and services to those experiencing homelessness. If you have any questions about this year's Point in Time Count, please email info@cohomeless.org.

The Point in Time Count is the only source of nationwide data on sheltered and unsheltered homelessness and is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of all jurisdictions receiving federal funding to provide housing and services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

This information helps the federal government to better understand the nature and extent of homelessness nationwide and helps to inform communities’ local strategic planning, capacity building, and advocacy campaigns to prevent and end homelessness.

Last week, U.S. Housing and Urban Development released the 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR),, which provides estimates of homelessness in the U.S. The 2023 report estimates that approximately 653,100 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2023 – a 12% increase from 2022 based on the results of PIT counts across the nation.

The 2023 PIT Count revealed the following trends here in Central Oregon. 

• 2023 Point in Time Count shows a 28% increase in homelessness over last year, more than double the national average.
• 79% of those counted have lived in Central Oregon for 3 years or longer.
• More than 80% of those counted have been homeless for more than 12 months.
• 46% of all people living unsheltered and chronically homeless were over the age of 50.
• The total number of youth experiencing homelessness continues to climb.  
• Central Oregon continues to see that people of color experience homelessness at a greater rate than white peers* 

*View HUD’s CoC Analysis Tool: Race and Ethnicity here.

As the 2024 Point in Time Count quickly approaches, the HLC wants to express our gratitude for the efforts of all who continue to work together to serve our neighbors who are experiencing housing insecurity. Your service to our most vulnerable neighbors is life saving and hope giving.  Together, we remain committed to a vision of Central Oregon where everyone has a safe, stable place to call home.

The Homeless Leadership Coalition (HLC) leads a community centered, coordinated, and collaborative response to prevent and end homelessness as the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) designated Continuum of Care (CoC OR-503) for Central Oregon.

Coalition membership includes representation from Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and represents nonprofit homeless assistance providers, victim service providers, faith-based organizations, governments, businesses, advocates, public housing agencies, school districts, social service providers, mental health agencies, hospitals, universities, affordable housing developers, law enforcement, people with lived experience of homelessness, and others who care about the issues facing our unhoused neighbors.

The HLC works to prevent and end homelessness so that our communities will have a comprehensive response in place that ensures homelessness is prevented whenever possible, or if it can’t be prevented, it is a rare, brief, and non-recurring experience.