On a frigid January night and morning, volunteers from around the Lehigh Valley bundled up against the cold in Bethlehem to conduct the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, a federally mandated effort to count individuals experiencing homelessness.

More than a dozen volunteers helped Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering (BES) conduct the count on Jan. 22, engaging homeless individuals staying at the shelter and venturing out into the city to speak with people living without permanent housing.

A man wearing a flannel shirt and cowboy hat driving a truck

Bob Rapp, Executive Director of Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering, driving in Bethlehem during the PIT Count.

“It’s brutal out tonight,” said Bob Rapp, executive director of Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering, as he drove his truck through Bethlehem, stopping at bus stations, laundromats, shopping centers, parking lots, and known encampments.

“People really hunker down in weather like this,” Rapp said. “We know we miss a lot of folks (during the count), but we try to reach as many as we can, and we try to do a little bit better each year.”

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that Continuum of Care (CoC) programs conduct an annual count of shelter and unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. Each PIT Count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally.

Gathering Crucial Data

Volunteers manned tables inside the BES shelter at 75 East Market Street, where guests provided information through a two-page questionnaire. The shelter currently provides 27 beds for women and 43 beds for men who identify themselves as homeless.

Additionally, Rapp traveled through the community that night, and with Maria Shior, BES Director of Volunteers, led a team of volunteers starting at 5:30 a.m. the next morning, visiting areas where unsheltered individuals often seek refuge.

A man in a blue sweater helps a woman in a pink coat fill out a questionnaire as they are seated at a table

A volunteer helps a woman fill out a questionnaire at the shelter.

“They really have it down to a science,” said volunteer Jill Odzer, owner of the Bethlehem-based staffing agency Pridestaff. “It’s a great initiative, and I had no idea this count was happening until now.”

Reaching the Unsheltered

The outdoor count usually captures about 250 individuals, Rapp said. Weeks before each count, BES reaches out to various groups to inform them of the effort. This includes the Bethlehem Police Department as well as other police departments, emergency medical services, and other community organizations in the municipalities surrounding the city.

The PIT Count questionnaire touches upon personal subjects, including educational attainment, family connections, and health conditions. Rapp emphasized that respondents do not have to answer questions that make them uncomfortable. For those who decline, BES can count them on a less intrusive “observation” basis.

“The data is important, but it’s more important to us that everybody feels comfortable and safe,” he said. “It’s rarely an issue. If people get agitated, we give them all the space they need. We’ve never had anybody get too upset.”

Funding and Impact

People sit at a series of tables, where volunteers help people fill out questionnaires

A series of tables were set up for volunteers to help fill out questionnaires at the shelter.

Riley Spingler, an intern with the Bethlehem Health Bureau, volunteered for her first PIT Count this year and said she did not encounter respondents unwilling to answer questions. She prefaced every questionnaire by explaining that some questions address sensitive topics.

“People tend to open up a bit and are happy to speak to us,” Spingler said. “We do need the information, but we want to make sure everyone is comfortable.”

After the PIT Count, local CoC programs compile the information and submit it to HUD via the Homelessness Data Exchange (HDX), an online platform designed for this purpose. The data helps allocate federal funding for homelessness programs.

HUD uses the data to identify trends, such as changes in the number of people experiencing homelessness, shifts in demographics, and the prevalence of unsheltered versus sheltered homelessness. Local CoC programs also analyze the data to understand regional patterns and specific needs.

Every night from Nov 1st to April 30, BES shelter guests are provided a warm bed, home cooked meal, and showers if available. Its capacity is 70 beds per night. BES utilizes volunteers to create meals, serve meals, clean, monitor showers, assist with up-keep, and work one-on-one with guests for linkage to needed services.