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The morning of the 2024 Maricopa County Point in Time (PIT) count was cool and rainy. The PIT is an annual street (unsheltered) and shelter count to determine the number of people experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County on one day. The count is part of a national effort to identify the extent of homelessness throughout the country.
On Tuesday January 23, beginning well before sunrise, hundreds of volunteers, outreach workers, compassionate leaders and community members engaged in conversation and data collection, to create a “snapshot” of homelessness in Maricopa County. Keys to Change staff and board members joined the efforts again this year by surveying the neighborhood surrounding Key Campus.
While we know numbers are only a part of the picture, this annual effort is required for our region’s annual application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for specific housing and services funding. Woven through these data points and statistics are human stories. Last Tuesday we gathered together in the name of data for the sake of our neighbors - who deserve to be seen and to be counted among our community. Thank you to the Keys to Change staff and board members who participated. Results of the count will be released in late spring by Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG).
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