The goal of the annual homeless count for this year, as set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is more circumspect than in previous years, to measure if homelessness has gone up or down during the COVID-19 pandemic. HUD has explicitly stated that this count will not allow for “apples to apples” comparisons with previous years.
It was clear to us that the number of acceptable COVID-19 infections caused by the count was zero. Therefore, gathering our 1,750 volunteers this year, and sending them out in teams of 3-5 to interact at length with a medically fragile community, was a “non-starter.”
Instead, we utilized homeless rehousing system professional outreach teams instead of volunteers, a brief survey, with less questions than in previous years, and we counted over the course of 14 days instead of one night.
We were heartened by the wide positive coverage of the count in the press, culminating in the endorsement of our plan by the Dallas Morning News editorial board.
Thank you to Nissy New, Krystal Lotspeich, Yolanda Williams, John Little, Gloria Sandoval, Todd Marks, and Diana Romagnoli, who so carefully planned and executed this mammoth undertaking, and to the countless professionals who under their leadership counted at the winter shelters and out in the field over 14 days.
The wise counsel of Samantha Maggiani made everything we did better, and without the technical leadership and support of Alex Espinosa, Freda Nelms, and Megan Starnes, the entire effort would have ground to a halt. Special thanks to Dr. Joann Schulte for providing training to keep both us and our homeless friends safe.
Every army is only as strong as its supply lines, and so thank you to Cara Dudley, Kiara Jones, Abigail Kauffman, David Gruber, and Irum Ali for obtaining sponsorships, blessing bags, and PPE, as well as to all those who donated these important items.
Helmuth von Moltke (1800–1891), the Prussian field marshal, known as Moltke the Elder, famously said, “No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main strength.” This has been popularized nowadays in its shortened Americanized version, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” The same proved true here, but our team was able to adapt.
One of the reasons that the count is traditionally carried out in the winter is that that increases the likelihood of individuals experiencing homelessness being in shelter, especially in less temperate climates than ours here in Dallas. Imagine our surprise (along with everyone else’s, to be sure) that on the day the count was to begin, February 18, 2021, upwards of 1,000 otherwise unsheltered individuals were in inclement weather shelters across our two counties.
The day before, while many were still lacking power, internet, water or all three, the Homeless Count Workgroup quickly pivoted, rallied other professionals from the homeless rehousing system, and over the proceeding days administered the count survey to countless individuals in inclement weather shelters. This made the counting over the 14-day period much easier.
