The 2018 Homeless Count - There’s an App for That!

It’s time for the annual Homeless Count, Thursday, January 25, 2018, 7pm-Midnight, and if you’ve seen one Homeless Count, you’ve seen them all, right? Wrong! In 2016 and 2017, the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) radically changed the way it conducts its annual Homeless Count, in order to get much more reliable data. So, what changed?

Volunteers prepare for the Homeless Count on the night of January 26, 2017
 

• We recruit more volunteers – With more volunteers, we can canvas more areas, and that means improved accuracy.
• Volunteers count the unsheltered homeless only – We know where the sheltered homeless are. They are sheltered, after all! Shelters provide MDHA with an accurate count of these folks, electronically. That way our volunteers can concentrate on finding the unsheltered homeless.
• We use geographic information system (GIS) mapping software – The software helps us plan volunteer routes, as well as tier them, according to the likelihood of the presence of homeless persons in any given area.
• We ask volunteers to register in advance as teams – This helps us plan the exact routing of volunteers, streamline the Count, and utilize volunteers’ time during the evening of the Count. 

Counting Us app (Courtesy of Simtech Solutions)

• There’s an app for that – If in previous years, we used paper surveys printed out on double sided legal-size pages, in 2017 we said goodbye to paper, with the Counting Us app from Simtech Solutions! This app eliminates the need for volunteers to return to their deployment sites to drop off completed surveys, as well as the need for more volunteers to transcribe hundreds of surveys in the weeks following the Count. Instead the app uploads each survey immediately. The app also allows us to see survey data as it is being gathered in real-time, in a virtual command center, full of intuitive dashboards and maps, and better analyze the data after the Count.
• We use the information we collect to connect people to services – We ask volunteers to collect names and contact information of those they count (with their permission), and the app automatically records their exact latitude and longitude, using GPS. Then, the very night of the count we can supply outreach teams with this information, so they can go out the very next morning to assist individuals who may qualify for specific programs, including youth, veterans and persons with specific medical diagnoses.

Register today to volunteer for the Homeless Count, Thursday, January 25, 2018, 7pm-Midnight: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PITCountDallas. For more details: http://www.mdhadallas.org/2018-homeless-count/

 

Dallas Counting Us command center – January 26, 2017

 

We Knew We Could Count on YOU!

 

Wow. So THAT happened! That being the 2017 Homeless Count - the largest one in Texas history! We currently estimate that in Dallas County alone we had about 1,125 volunteers. (That means that about 86% of the 1,300 that registered showed up. My wedding planner friends tell me that 10-15% is, indeed, a typical no-show rate.) That does not include Collin County, or about 100 Dallas police officers, who escorted many of our teams.

There are so many people to thank. Thank you, first and foremost to each of our volunteers, and each of your organizations. We are overwhelmed by your generosity of spirit, and your giving of your time and energy. And a special thank you to our aforementioned brave men and women in blue!

Thank you to Rev. Linda Roby, her team and First United Methodist Church Dallas, and Rev. Heather Mustain, her team, and Wilshire Baptist Church for hosting the main Count sites, for investing significant time and resources in making us feel like family, and for being indispensable in pulling off such a smooth dual site operation.

Thank you to Angela Lang, Ashley Brundage and everyone else at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, who helped us with recruitment, publicity and coverage of this event.

Check out these great media pieces about the Count:

WFAA - Ashley Brundage Interview
Volunteers Will Count Homeless

Dallas Morning News - Tasha Tsiaperas
Street by street, alley by alley, volunteers count Dallas' homeless

Dallas Morning News - Robert Wilonsky
Once a year, Dallas' homeless count reminds us this is bigger than any of us can fathom - or bear

You can watch Facebook Live videos from the Count too, courtesy of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas:

Getting Ready
Tonight's the Night
Someone Lives Here 

Now, please mark your calendars for next year's Homeless Count, on Thursday, January 25, 2018. #dallascounts2018.  

A Letter from Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO to the Dallas Homeless Count Volunteers

Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO, sent this letter to our volunteers this morning:

Dear Volunteers,

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! The last Dallas Homeless Count Volunteer Team rolled in at just before 1:30 am. We did it! All counters were safe, with no incidents. What a tremendous volunteer response! Well over 550(!) volunteers deployed all across Dallas to produce the most extensive homeless count on record! A special thank you goes out to the City of Dallas and the Dallas Police Department, for providing us with volunteers and space for staging and training.

I enjoyed listening to your stories as you all brought back your results. You followed instructions, and you stuck to the guidelines. In the process, you were exposed to and touched by the experience of our unsheltered homeless neighbors.

Interestingly, we had some Tier One routes where nobody was found, and some Tier Three routes where many persons were found. This fit with our goal: To build a baseline map of our unsheltered homeless neighbors, through which we can better plan for and improve street outreach services. This type of task can only be achieved with hundreds of committed volunteers.

Counters train at DPD NW Patrol Division prior to deployment

We will need to carefully review all the survey packets to verify the numbers. A preliminary estimate, though, indicates that through your tireless work we identified approximately 600 unsheltered homeless individuals in the City of Dallas. This is an increase from the 363 found in 2015 in all of Dallas and Collin County.

The official State of the Homeless Address will be on March 22, 2016, 9.30-11.30am at Goodwill Industries of Dallas, 3020 N. Westmoreland Rd., Dallas, Texas 75212. There we will present all of the findings of the Homeless Count, as well as a Homeless Response System progress report, as we prepare our 2016-2017 Continuum of Care Strategic Work Plan. We hope to see you all there. Click on this link for a flyer and RSVP today. 

Finally, please save the date for the 2017 Homeless Count, on Thursday, January 26, 2017. MDHA is honored to work for all of you. With your help, we will continue to build an effective homeless response system, that will make homelessness in our community rare, brief and non-recurring!

 

Cindy J. Crain

President and CEO, MDHA

We Need 750!

As you know, on Thursday night, January 21, 2016, 8:00pm-1:00am, the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) will be conducting its annual Point-In-Time (PIT) Homeless Count. 

In order to conduct a full and accurate count of the unsheltered homeless, MDHA will need 750 volunteers, registered as teams of 3-5 persons. How did we arrive at that number? We're glad you asked! Strap on your thinking caps:

The City of Dallas has been divided into 193 counting routes:

 

• There are 48 Tier 1 routes that we have identified as having 4 or more encampments (an encampment can be 1 or more persons).
• There are 69 Tier 2 routes that we have identified as having 1-3 encampments (smaller encampments, no tent cities).
• The balance are Tier 3 routes that have not had any recent reports of homelessness, but we wish to canvass to identify any new encampments, youth staying in 24 hour restaurants overnight, or families in cars in store parking lots that might not draw the attention of street outreach.

Now, 193 routes times an average of 4 persons per counting team equals 772. So, with 750 volunteers, we will get Dallas near full Coverage.

 

To sign up, and for more information, go to: www.mdhadallas.org/2016-homeless-count/

Are You Ready to Kick It up a Notch? In Dallas Everyone Counts! #dallascounts2016

Are you ready to show that in Dallas everyone counts?! This year MDHA is kicking its Point-In-Time Homeless Count up a notch! Here’s how:

• We are recruiting way more volunteers. We hope to get 750 this time. With more volunteers, we can canvas more areas, and that means improved accuracy.
• Volunteers will be counting the unsheltered homeless only. We know where the sheltered homeless are. They are sheltered, after all! Service providers will provide MDHA with an accurate count of these folks, electronically. That way our volunteers can concentrate on finding and counting the unsheltered homeless. 
• We are using geographic information system (GIS) mapping software to plan volunteer routes. We are tiering the routes, according to the likelihood of the presence of homeless persons in any given area.
• We are asking volunteers to register in advance as teams. This will greatly help us plan the exact routing of volunteers, streamline the Count, and better utilize volunteers’ time during the evening of the count.  
• We are asking volunteers to collect names, contact info and pictures of those they count, with the latters’ permission. The reason for this is two-fold. First, we can’t end persons’ homelessness, if we don’t know who they are, where they stay, how we can contact them, and what they look like. Second, in order to qualify for solutions that can help folks end their homelessness, their homelessness needs to be documented. This too is easier to do for the sheltered homeless; not so much for the unsheltered homeless. The Count is a great opportunity to do just that, but once again, without getting all their info, “no can do…”

Go to http://www.mdhadallas.org/2016-homeless-count/ for all the info you need, to register, and to help us spread the word! Don’t forget to post all about it on social media, using this hashtag: #dallascounts2016