New data from Community Health Partnerships and Pikes Peak Continuum of Care has identified 1,339 people experiencing homelessness in El Paso County.
In the 2020 point-in-time count conducted on Jan. 27, volunteers asked people about their housing status and counted 358 people who were sleeping unsheltered. Organizations working in emergency and transitional housing, like The Place and Springs Rescue Mission, counted 981 people sheltered that day.
The new overall number is lower than in 2019 when 1,562 people were counted.
The point-in-time count is a once a year measurement that acts as a snapshot of people who experience homelessness in the county. The count helps organizations apply for federal funding for services, but is a percentage of the people the agencies serve in a given year.
From July 2019 to June 2020, more than 7,000 people accessed housing support services, according to the report. The data overall aids organizations in identifying patterns in lost access to shelter and in the creation of programs that serve to reduce homelessness in the county.
