Yearly survey provides a snapshot of homelessness in Colorado Springs

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The City of Colorado Springs is applauding the decreases in this year’s Point In Time survey (PIT), which is comprised of data that is required to be conducted every year through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“Our community has a very robust network of service providers who are working to make homelessness rare and non-recurring,” said Katie Sunderlin, the Chief Housing Officer for the City of Colorado Springs. “The successes that we are seeing reflected in this year’s trending PIT count are attributed to their work.”

The PIT survey evaluates how many people are experiencing homelessness in a single night in cities, so that appropriate resources can be given to help support the unsheltered. The survey was taken by the Pikes Peak Continuum of Care and its volunteers on Jan. 22, 2024.

This year’s survey showed that there was a total of 1,146 people who were experiencing homelessness when teams went out to do the count – which is 156 fewer people counted than in 2023, roughly a 12% decrease.

259 were counted as unsheltered, which means that they were sleeping outside, in tents not designated as camping sites, in their cars, or in abandoned buildings. The remaining 887 people were counted as sheltered. This means they slept in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs.

However, the category that showed an increase were youth, seniors, veterans, and unhoused families, which increased by 12%.

However, those who work directly with the homeless population in Colorado Springs estimate that number might be higher if the survey was conducted at a different time of year.

“It seems to me like it might make more sense to do it in the summertime when we have more ability to get out to certain areas and to reach the people that maybe we don’t catch in the wintertime because they’re maybe going into a friend’s house, or they’re hopping into a motor home where we haven’t reached out to before,” said Sgt. Olav Chaney, with the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) . “I think that could be a part of the issue.”

Homeward Pikes Peak is another entity that helps serve and provide resources for the unsheltered. Steve Wayant, the Program Manager, often goes out with CSPD’s HOT team and sees firsthand just how many homeless individuals there are in an area and helps to provide them with support. He says, based on his experience, the PIT survey may not be an accurate reflection of just how many people are experiencing homelessness.

“That’s not what we’ve seen when we have office hours,” Wayant said. “People are coming in. That has not decreased. It’s increased some. And when we go out to the camps, there doesn’t seem to be a decrease there.”

City leaders recently announced a new approach to homelessness with a response plan that highlights more affordable housing, supportive services and preventative solutions.

Mayor Yemi Mobolade issued this statement in regard to the PIT survey:

“It is encouraging to see the results of the latest Point in Time count, which indicates the number of people experiencing homelessness in Colorado Springs has decreased over the last year. This is the second year in a row we’ve seen decreasing numbers, and I believe this is a testament to the effectiveness of our community’s collaborative efforts to address homelessness in our city. Despite these results, homelessness remains one of our enduring challenges. It is an issue that weighs heavily on our residents, business owners and our community.”

As a part of the City’s new strategic homelessness plan, leaders are asking for feedback until September 2nd on how the city addresses the homeless problem. That link can be found here .

For those who work in law enforcement like Sgt. Chaney, homelessness is often a reoccurring problem which needs more resources directed toward substance use disorder services, in order to prevent people from relapsing and ending up back on the streets.

“We continue to go out there and enforce the laws and the ordinances that are in the books. Again, I look at it as that ‘tough love’ approach. These folks are the same ones we deal with over and over again, and we keep telling them we’re ready to take you, take you to the Springs Rescue Mission. And those are the ones, I’d say about 90% of the people we deal with, are substance use folks,” Sgt. Chaney said. “If it’s not 95%, we see needles in the camps all over the place.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.