St. Johns County’s Continuum of Care to Conduct Annual Count of the Homeless

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – January 18, 2021 – Each year, on a single day in January, the clock begins ticking for a team of volunteers who spends 14 straight hours attempting to make an accurate count of every homeless person in St. Johns county.

The Point in Time (PIT) count as it’s called, is a literal count of all sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single day, giving a snapshot in time of those experiencing homelessness. This year’s count, a difficult task in itself, is scheduled to take place on Jan. 28 and will be complicated by the pandemic, with fewer volunteers being deployed throughout the day, and additional safety precautions being implemented.

St. Johns County’s Continuum of Care, led by UF Health St. JohnsCare Connect, conducts the PIT count as a requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for those who seek federal funds. The goal is to have an accurate depiction of all those who are utilizing temporary housing including emergency shelters and transitional housing, plus persons who are living in places not meant for human habitation including cars, parks, and other similar locations.

UF Health Care Connectis a social health organization of UF Health St. Johnsthat connects area residents with a single access point to services that address social determinants of health in a coordinated way across communities. In 2020, UF Health Care Connecthelped decrease the unsheltered homeless population by 39%.

Last year the Continuum of Care counted 367 people who met the HUD’s definition of homeless. There are no predictions for the number of homeless to be counted as a variety of factors, including weather, reduced volunteers, increased safety precautions, and others, can influence the count.

To learn more about St. Johns County’s Continuum of Care, visit stjohnscountycoc.org.

To learn more about UF Health St. JohnsCare Connect, visit stjohnscareconnect.com.