COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- In Franklin County, volunteers were up early Thursday to better understand a growing crisis in our community. They participated in the point-in-time count, a nationwide event that helps track homelessness.
A record number of volunteers joined the Community Shelter Board to count every person experiencing homelessness they could find. The board said two major factors are driving homelessness in Franklin County: low vacancy rates and increasing rent. For some, it means losing their home. The work on Thursday is a step to better understand the issue.
"I have experienced a lot of homelessness with my family," Point in Time Count Volunteer Altheda Bradley said. All volunteers came with different reasons but had a shared goal: to better understand and address homelessness in Franklin County.
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Evictions are a driving force behind the housing crisis in Franklin County. Data from the Eviction Lab, based out of Princeton University, shows that in the last month, Columbus had the highest number of evictions of the major Ohio cities. It was almost double Cincinnati and four times the number in Cleveland.
Another issue is the cost of homes and rent. "People are moving to unsheltered homelessness because we do have a lack of housing, but also because our shelter system, which we're really thinking about every day, needs to flex to what people need," President and CEO of Community Shelter Board Shannon Isom said.
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"We are working very diligently on two things to make sure that we have a system that's responding to an end to homelessness but also making sure that we have a system that responds to unsheltered homelessness with the exact same rigor," Isom said.
In the early morning volunteers go out to camps and count. Throughout the day, they continue at warming centers and shelters. "I was homeless after I lost my apartment and I would come here for a Sunday breakfast," Brandon Johnson who is staying at Third Shift Warming/Cooling Center said.
Johnson has been at the warming center since it opened this winter. He is part of the count, along with anyone else who comes in for a warm place to stay. "What we're hoping as we get our preliminary numbers in soon is that less people are outside, and which means that we have a system that is functioning and working now. More work to do around housing. But we do not want people outside, especially in these terrible conditions," Isom said.
This count is something that happens across the United States so the Department of Housing and Urban Development can get a better understanding of the issue across the country.
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