Colorado volunteers count those experiencing homelessness in Adams County

With each step, Adams County volunteers are making sure each person experiencing homelessness counts.  

"We are heading behind the businesses here along Pecos to try and find some people experiencing unsheltered homelessness," said Heather McClure, the county's Homelessness Outreach Coordinator for Adams County Community Safety and Wellbeing and Poverty Reduction Unit. 

On Tuesday, Adams County volunteers set out to conduct the point-in-time count. It is an annual census of people experiencing homelessness coordinated by the Metro Denver Homelessness Initiative across the region's seven counties. The count goes back to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine how many individuals experiencing homelessness there are in a given region that are sheltered and unsheltered on a single night. This count helps provide the right amount of federal funding for homelessness and housing resources.  

"A lot of times the homelessness in this area is hidden," said McClure. "It's hidden up under the freeways, it's hidden under bridges, people get very resourceful in finding ways to be out of sight." 

McClure says it is a chance to take note of the changes in homelessness in Adams County each year, as much as an opportunity for volunteers to show compassion and learn about why people are on the streets.  

"Letting them know that basically, we're here for them," said Desiree Guerrero, a new PIT volunteer. "I learned how nice they are [and] that we may be the only person they get to talk to." 

Last year, Adams County recorded 948 people both sheltered and unsheltered. 321 of those were unsheltered in the community. McClure foresees this year's PIT count increasing. 

"Because eviction rates are still high, they're still through the roof," said McClure. "We do see a lot more unsheltered homelessness. There's a lot of migrants that are coming into the community that are experiencing unsheltered homelessness as well."   

CBS News Colorado followed along as McClure and other volunteers met with unhoused migrants hanging out behind a strip mall on Pecos Street. Volunteers conducted a survey with each person, which involved questions about how long they had been experiencing homelessness and reasons why they ended up unhoused.  

They also received food and cold weather items from the county and spoke with volunteers about what resources they could access in the community for certain needs. 

"You give them hope to know that there are resources and people out there that want to help," said Guerrero. 

Volunteers approach each person with compassion, but sometimes individuals experiencing homelessness will choose not to engage or answer survey questions. 

"The gentleman, He was asleep. He did not want to engage with us," said McClure, after approaching an individual experiencing homelessness. "So, what we're going to do is what we call an observation. So, we're just going to note what we saw, note where we saw it and put that information in." 

One way the county was able to conduct their count more efficiently this year, is by activating their cold weather shelter plan Monday night.  

"We were able to distribute 185 vouchers for motel rooms. Some of those rooms do have multiple people in them, so we were able to shelter over 185 individuals for the count last night," said McClure.  

While being able to count more people experiencing homelessness helps increase funding access, McClure says they still want to see fewer people ending up on the streets.  

"As well as finding out who is interested in engaging in housing as well as upward mobility services," said McClure. "Just because somebody is experiencing homelessness doesn't mean they're a bad person. They're still a person and everybody deserves to be treated with dignity and compassion." 

The official PIT count for this year will not be available until sometime in late July or August, according to McClure.