Louisville Annual Homeless Count Highlights Safety Concerns

Volunteers in Louisville are briefed and trained on conducting the annual PIT homeless count.

Volunteers from the HUD Louisville Field Office in Kentucky recently joined a record number of 300 plus volunteers for the city's annual HUD Point-in-Time (PIT) Homeless Count. It was just 6 degrees; however, volunteers were able to find many homeless persons on the street and residing in encampments.

"I witnessed a woman have a psychotic episode and a couple catch their tent on fire with a propane heater," said David Railey, HUD Senior Management Analyst. "My group also discovered 5 people living in a makeshift 10x10 shelter complete with a large wood stove." In 2018, Louisville counted nearly 1,000 people sleeping outdoors when it was 11 degrees. Officials will find out soon if that number went up. The local PIT count is successful due to the ever-growing support of volunteers.

Find out more about HUD PIT Counts (www.hudexchange.info/programs/hdx/guides/pit-hic/#general-pit-guides-and-tools).

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