Homeless in Hays — 2023: 180 unhoused people on any given night

Hays County Commissioners Court heard a presentation by the Hays County Homeless Coalition about the data gathered from the 2023 Point in Time Count at its regularly scheduled meeting last week.

The PIT Count is an annual count mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is a census of people experiencing homelessness in Hays County on January 26 of each year. The PIT count allows the government to gather a comprehensive data set of people experiencing homelessness within the state and across the country.

According to the Texas Homeless Network website, there were a total of 180 homeless people during the 2023 PIT count. The demographics are as follows: 63 children under 18 years of age, seven youth from ages 18 to 24, 28 people from ages 25 to 34, 31 people from ages 35 to 44, 27 people from ages 45 to 54, 14 people from ages 55 to 64, 10 people 65 years and older, 21 chronically homeless people and 10 veterans.

Kaimi Mattila, a Hays County Homeless Coalition board member, said there is a high number of individuals who are unhoused that have substance abuse and mental health issues.

“Characteristics vary from person to person and so do the reasons for homelessness,” Mattila said. “Those reasons include access to affordable housing for low income individuals, access to mental health and substance use treatment … limited education and criminal background, cognitive impairment, physical disabilities, medical conditions, family instability or traumatic early life experiences.”

Joshua Sutherlun, a Hays County Coalition board member, said the coalition advocates for homeless neighbors and finds solutions to homelessness.

We collaborate to enact and work on those solutions and we work to educate the community about homelessness concerns and solutions,” Sutherlun said. “One of the main ways to do this is through the Point in Time count.”

The coalition is part of the Texas Homeless Network, which covers a large part of the state — 215 counties.

“Most counties in Texas use the Texas Homeless Network as a resource. Also, to help us assist in getting funding should we need to seek any federal grants,” Sutherlun said, adding that the only counties in Texas not using the network are metropolitan with their own systems in place.

Nancy Heintz, a Hays County Homeless Coalition board member, said in the PIT count, those labeled as sheltered have been in temporary housing for less than 90 days — otherwise the count considers that permanent housing, those labeled as unsheltered have been staying in places unfit for human habitation. She said when taking the count, the surveyors ask people where they will be sleeping that night.

“Funding is driven by this Point in Time count,” Heintz said, adding that the data is gathered by the Texas Homeless Network who then submit the data to the U.S. Department of Housing and Development. “So when your agencies are applying for federal funding and they need to show what the need is based on outcomes or what the numbers are, then that’s the number. It stands officially for one year.”

The count can give information on trends and improvement or decline in the state of homelessness across the U.S.

“The liaison from Hays County ISD has seen a real rise in students identifying [motels] as their housing choice,” Heintz said, adding that this adds to the need for additional low income housing. “After the count, for veterans, the county did get the VASH (Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing) vouchers. It’s the permanent housing vouchers for veterans. Currently, I think that they have filled all ten of those vouchers.”