Wenatchee Valley Annual ‘Point in Time Count’ to Tally Local Homeless Count Set for Feb. 24

The local Point in Time Count is set for February 24 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Link Transit station on Columbia Street with the goal to better understand the local homeless population.

The Point in Time Count is a nationwide mandated event that is designed to tally up the number of homeless individuals in the community and simultaneously provide outreach. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires every state and community to participate in the Point in Time Count.

"What we use the data for is to understand the extent of how many people are experiencing homelessness in our community right now," said Sasha Sleiman, program coordinator. "We take data from shelters and also go out and count those who are unsheltered. We do that with all of the different homeless housing centers."

Local nonprofits will be on site to offer resources at the event as well. The data collected from the event is sent both to the state and federal level to determine how much funding the community gets to combat the homelessness issue.

Traditionally, the event is in January but has been pushed to February as a result of the Omicron variant's spread.