APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) — Community volunteers and homeless advocates are conducting a count of Appleton’s homeless population Wednesday.
The “Point-in-Time” count is conducted twice a year.
“Community members and housing and homeless agencies go out and do a physical, boots-on-the-ground count of individuals and families experiencing homelessness,” explained Ryne Lodl with the City of Appleton.
The idea is to connect those experiencing homelessness with resources that can help.
“They go to common places where our street outreach teams have found individuals,” Lodl told WTAQ. “They’re going and checking those. They’re checking 24-hour businesses, they’re checking parking lots.”
They’re provided access to those resources and also have their contact information collected, so that services can contact them in the future.
Lodl says there are challenges in getting an accurate winter count, but previous winter counts are showing a troubling trend.
“Usually our winter numbers are smaller than our summer numbers in July,” said Lodl. “But we’ve seen those January numbers creeping up towards those July numbers, and that’s concerning.”
The count will last into next week. It’s being put on by the Fox Cities Housing Coalition.
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