Snapshot of homeless taken with yearly count

By LISA CAPOBIANCO
STAFF WRITER
Last month, more than 20 individuals in Bristol participated in the largest national data collection event on homelessness: the Point-in-Time Count.
The goal of the annual exercise is to estimate the total number of homeless on a given night across the state and the country. The count is required by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop data needed to assess the success of current programs, progress made nationally in the fight to end homelessness, and to determine future resource allocations for the upcoming year, reported the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness.
In Bristol, 11 people were found unsheltered, literally homeless on Jan. 26, said Phillip Lysiak, executive director of St. Vincent DePaul Mission of Bristol, Inc.  During the PIT count, 23 volunteers from local groups and agencies surveyed six different areas in Bristol. Lysiak said the event serves as just a “barometer” of what is happening in the state and in the greater Bristol area.
“The number of people we found won’t necessarily be the final number,” said Lysiak. “It’s a point in time…one particular night in the last week of January.”
Last year, Connecticut’s PIT Count showed substantial progress in efforts to end homelessness, with overall homelessness in the state down 10 percent compared to 2013 and people living on the streets down by 32 percent, as reported by the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness.
“Year to year, marginally, we increase or decrease, depending on a lot of factors—the volunteers, the ability to find people, the weather,” said Lysiak.
Lysiak said this year’s PIT count had a very strong volunteer effort.
From Bristol Community Services to Salvation Army to Bristol Community Organization, the event saw a wide representation of volunteer groups.
“This year we had more volunteers,” said Lysiak, adding that this year’s count saw warmer weather than last year. “That was great—very helpful. The more consistent you can be every year with the same number of people, the same number of people who have the knowledge and ability of how to conduct the survey, the more accurate and better it is.”
One volunteer group that took part in the PIT count for the first time was Brian’s Angels, a new movement of concerned citizens dedicated to helping Bristol homeless with love and care. The group supplies toiletries, non-perishable food items, and clothing items, as well as items that are not included in the budgets of local agencies.
About 10 volunteers of the local group participated in the count.
“They had some good contacts and knowledge of where they knew they could find people, which also helped,” said Lysiak.
For Brian’s Angels founder Pat Stebbins, the PIT count served as an opportunity to participate in a meaningful way.
During the PIT count, Stebbins, who also attends the Bristol Task Group to End Homelessness meetings, carried grocery items along to hand them out to some people her group found.
“I know of at least three or four spots—they have a tendency to congregate where they’re going to find food, or they’re going to be totally off the grid,” said Stebbins, adding how it was an amazing experience for Brian’s Angels to take part in the count.