The Housing & Homeless Coalition of Central New York will conduct their annual Point in Time Count. With the assistance of over 70 volunteers and human service professionals from various
Just after the sun set on Wednesday, Jan. 20, staff from the Auburn Rescue Mission bundled up and stepped into the frigid dark to conduct the annual Point in Time Count.
The 24-hour effort, required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, tallies the number of homeless people nationwide. Counters search for unsheltered people and combine them with the people in emergency shelters and other facilities. In Cayuga County, the Auburn Rescue Mission led the count in coordination with the Housing & Homeless Coalition of Central New York.
Gary Mann, program manager of the Auburn Rescue Mission, told The Citizen that he and his staff found two unsheltered homeless people this year. One agreed to take shelter, while the other warned the counters to stay away. They found signs of more people, Mann said, and they might have found them if they weren t restricted from using volunteers this year due to COVID-19. Having fewer counters also made the staff more cautious than usual