The Southside Continuum of Care (Planning District 13) is planning to count individuals and families across the area who are homeless.

The point-in-time (PIT) count is a one-day count of people experiencing homelessness in the community.

This count is a federal requirement, according to a news release.

The data collected from this count is used to identify community needs and to determine the level of funding communities should get to address homelessness.

The information gathered is used in community planning processes because it demonstrates which geographic areas and subpopulations are most negatively affected by housing instability.

The goal is to count all people in the continuum who meet HUD’s criteria for homelessness.

This includes individuals and families living in a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangement (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state or local government programs for low-income individuals)” on the night of the count (HUD, 2014 guidance).

Also included are those with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or  private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground” on the night of the count (HUD, 2014 guidance).     

This count will be conducted on Wednesday, Jan. 27, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016.

Organizations from Halifax, Mecklenburg, Charlotte and Brunswick counties are gearing up to locate anyone who is homeless on Jan. 27.

Once all of the numbers are gathered, they will be sent to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.Those numbers will determine the needs in the area and how they can be met.

To volunteer for more information, contact Kim Carson at (434) 222-7121.