Preps Start For Count Of Casper Homeless

Preparations for a "Point-In-Time" Count of the homeless of Casper got underway this morning. Ktwo Radio's,  Karen Snyder,  has that story...

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Partnering agencies for a headcount of homeless people in Casper met at Life Steps Campus to talk about strategy's.  Robin Mundell is President of the state wide agency,  'Wyoming Homeless Collaborative'. She says they've been doing this count for a number of years and each time they get a little better at it, but she's hoping with greater coordination numbers will be more accurate .  "This meeting was to try to identify some consistency.  There were representatives here from various community agencies who are involved with homeless persons on a daily basis and we are trying to figure out - we want to make sure we count all of the noses, that  we count them correctly."

One of the partner agencies is the Community Action Partnership of Natrona County.   Brenda Eichoff-Johnson is Director.  "Its a lot more daunting task than I think most people would realize.  Identifying homeless individuals can be very challenging as far as finding out where they are at,  where they stay, and being able to come into contact with them,  because part of this count is we actually have to see them on that day.  We can't just know they're out there,  we actually have to see them."

While no names are gathered basic demographic information is.  Accurate numbers are important in getting federal funding to agencies that serve homeless populations.