It was below freezing and early in the morning on Jan. 30 when outreach workers and volunteers scattered across Vancouver for Clark County’s annual Point-in-Time Count of people experiencing homelessness.

They fanned out across the city on foot to try to reach people living in tents, encampments and vehicles. The goal is to find out how many people are living on the street at a given time, place and day. Among the questions the outreach workers and volunteers ask are: “What is your nationality?”; “Is this your first time being homeless?”; “How long have you lived in Clark County?”

Daniel Rivera is an outreach worker with Council for the Homeless, one of the organizations helping conduct the count in Vancouver.

Rivera said he often finds familiar faces from encampment to encampment, but even when it comes to people he knows, approaching with kindness is a key part of getting this work done.

“This is their home, so we wanna be very respectful and mindful of that — just asking them if they’re interested in talking to us. And if they are, then we kind of gauge the conversation that way, and continue to ask them how comfortable they feel with questions.”

Rivera said he also hands out gloves, hand warmers and other supplies, and offers to connect people with other services Council for the Homeless offers.

Cities like Vancouver, along with states and nonprofits across the nation that receive Continuum of Care funding are required by the federal government to conduct a Point-in-Time Count every other year. The counts of people experiencing homelessness take place over a single 24-hour period in January, with the data submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Washington, however, requires counties to conduct a census of their homeless populations every year.

Charlene Welch is the chief advancement officer for Council for the Homeless. She said frigid outdoor temperatures can bring uncertain challenges during the count.

“It could go either way. People might be more open to services because they’re struggling so much. But there also might be folks who are really deeply hiding because they’re trying to stay warm,” she said.

But this year, Welch’s team encountered another challenge it hadn’t anticipated. A few days before the count started, the Trump administration announced a federal funding freeze on grants and programs. A federal judge blocked the funding freeze after a coalition of 22 attorneys general, including in Oregon and Washington, sued to challenge it. Welch said that the announcement caused worry and took her team away from the work they normally do to prepare for the count.

“We had to immediately sit down and start looking at what would happen if we lose those dollars. It’s a very hard thing to consider,” she said. “It impacts some of the programs that help people who have been living outside restabilize into a home with all the services they need to stay healthy and well.”

When the count ends, Welch said her team begins to put together a report about its findings. Recent counts have shown, for example, that a majority of people experiencing homelessness in Vancouver are from the metro area.

“People want to stay in the community that they know. They have jobs here, they have kids here, they are going to school here, this is where they grew up. And nobody wants to leave their community to go find help someplace else.”

Results for the Point-in-Time Count count are typically released in early March. Data from 2024 is available online.

Daniel Rivera, Charlene Welch and other outreach workers talked with “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller during the 2025 Point-in-Time Count in Vancouver. You can listen to the full conversation here:

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/02/11/vancouver-washington-homelessness-homeless-point-in-time-count-housing/