Darryll Starks carefully ran down a list Thursday of do’s and don’ts when approaching the homeless to a handful of Clayton County volunteers who are offering him help in counting the unhoused.
Get their consent before asking them questions, Starks told the audience. Respect their time and their personal space. Demonstrate compassion and only offer resources if they are available and wanted, he said.
The flip side: Don’t take personal photos, don’t insist they answer questions or make promises you can’t deliver such as a job or some place to live, he said.
And never approach someone without trained personnel in tow.
Beginning today, advocates fighting to end homelessness will fan out across metro Atlanta to get a head count of people who are without housing in what is known as the annual “Point-in-Time” count.
The advocates and volunteers — sometimes accompanied by law enforcement — will visit homeless encampments in parks, around bridges, in woods and abandoned buildings. They’ll also look for people living in cars, a harder population to spot because of their mobility. Those living in shelters or in temporary housing will be counted separately.
“Our goal is to return everyone home safely,” said Starks, founder and CEO of Ujima Way, a Clayton County nonprofit that helps the homeless. “I don’t want to scare anybody, but I want to be real.”
Mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the count impacts the flow of federal dollars to communities across the nation to fight homelessness and can dictate in large part what resources are available to address services for the unhoused, advocates said.
The data collected include basic demographic information on race, age and ethnicity, said Abby Bracewell, senior executive coordinator for Partners for Home, which is helping with the count in the city of Atlanta, home to the area’s largest homeless population.
Organizers will also collect information about “each individual’s homeless experience, how long they’ve been homeless, how many times they’ve been homeless and the reasons they’re not in shelters,” she said.
“It’s a really important data tool for us to use to measure our progress year over year,” she said. “It also sometimes helps us identify new hotspots that we may not have been aware of.”
When the count takes place will depend on the jurisdiction. Atlanta, Clayton County and Gwinnet County, for instance, will begin their counts Monday, while cities such as Alpharetta and Roswell won’t begin until Tuesday.
Cities in South Fulton will count their homeless population on Wednesday. Cobb and DeKalb counties plan to hold their counts on Thursday.
“The PIT Count provides us with vital data that is imperative for our strategic planning efforts to end homelessness in Gwinnett,” Housing and Community Development Division Director Matt Elder said in a news release. “It’s also an opportunity for volunteers to witness and better understand what homelessness in Gwinnett looks like and some of the challenges these residents face.”
Those volunteers will be critical to the effort, helping the advocates fighting homelessness cover more ground, the advocates said.
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Deborah Burke Johnson, who was at Darryll Starks’ Thursday volunteer training, said she hopes the work will allow her better understanding of homelessness. She has spent years working with organizations focusing on empowering young girls and thinks Monday’s count will give her perspective on another group that could use her help.
“I volunteer a lot,” she said. “I thought this would be a different way to give back, to be able to see actually where the people actually are.”
Staff writers Taylor Croft, Jim Gaines, Sara Gregory and Jillian Price contributed to this article.
