The annual Point-in-Time Count is January 22, 2020. It is a collaborative local effort to count every homeless resident in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County (sheltered and unsheltered). The effort is required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for all localities receiving HUD funding directed for homelessness initiatives.
The Western Virginia Continuum of Care (CoC) organizes the count in Harrisonburg, Rockingham and the other localities in the region. The CoC works regionally to make homelessness “brief, rare, and non-recurring.”
The cities and counties that are part of the Western Virginia Continuum of Care
Both the Western Virginia CoC and Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) coordinators for our region work out of the HRHA office.
The HMIS Coordinator organizes the count and supports the work of the CoC by managing, interpreting and reporting on multi-agency data. The database serves to confidentially track homeless and housing services at the individual level and across cities and counties in the region. The Point-in-Time count is part of this data. The year-to-year results help inform federal, state, and local planning decisions and funding; highlighting the impact of homelessness.
For local coverage of the Point-in-Time Count check out the DNR’s recent article. For more on the work of the Western Virginia Continuum of Care, check out their website
Update January 23, 2020: WHSV Coverage of the count. Click below!
Used with permission 