PHILADELPHIA. — The Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services (OHS), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, seeks volunteers to help count and survey Philadelphians who are experiencing homelessness and living outdoors. This annual overnight Point In Time (PIT) Count will occur on January 22, 2025. Virtual training sessions for volunteers will begin in early January.
“The PIT Count takes place in communities across the country — not just Philadelphia,” said OHS Executive Director, Cheryl Hill. “Each community shares the data it collects during its overnight count with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This helps HUD identify homelessness trends, gaps, and needs throughout local communities and the nation, as well as determine which approaches to ending and preventing homelessness work best.”
On the night of the Philadelphia PIT Count, teams of volunteers will canvass the city according to their assigned zones to engage, count, and survey the people they encounter. In addition to documenting who is living and sleeping outdoors, the PIT Count informs city, state, and federal government where people are staying, for how long, and what barriers are preventing them from coming in off the street.
“It is important that we have a diverse pool of volunteers, including those with lived experience, youth, and young adults, to survey and count throughout the entire city,” said Beth Gonzales, OHS Deputy of Policy, Planning, and Performance. “We will need as many as 400 people to sign up and join us as a team lead, youth and young adult guide, counter, or event logistics volunteer.”
Gonzales explained training sessions contribute to a successful PIT Count.
“We provide training, so volunteers are prepared to execute their roles, get to know their teams, and review the zones,” said Gonzales. “Counters, for instance, receive training about the survey-taking process, including how to ask the people they encounter on the street to voluntarily participate in a short survey, and how to record the responses in the PIT data portal OHS created and debuted at the 2024 PIT Count.”
The data PIT Count volunteers collect are crucial for several reasons.
“The data tell us more about who exactly is experiencing homelessness. For example, we gather demographics such as race, gender, disability status, veteran status, and age, as well as why and what they feel they need, based on their responses,” shared Gonzales.
The 2025 PIT Count will begin on January 22, 2025, at 10 p.m., with a special kick-off event inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The event will feature a DJ, light bites, beverages, inspiring speakers, and volunteer check-in, where volunteers will meet up with their teams before heading out to their assigned zones in the city.
Anyone who would like to participate in the 2025 PIT Count may sign up to volunteer at https://bit.ly/2025_PITCount by January 6, 2025.
