1,300 Volunteers Spread Across Dallas to Count City's Homeless Population

About 1,300 people fanned across Dallas late Thursday -- peering down alleyways and climbing under highway overpasses -- to count the city's homeless. The effort, which continued early Friday, was part of an annual, federally-required point-in-time census that tracks trends in homelessness, such as how many veterans are homeless, how many families are on the street and how many people have been homeless for more than a year.Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance conducts the count in Dallas and Collin counties and will release official census results March 9. Volunteers were sent out in groups in sections throughout the city to ask homeless people questions ranging from basic (their age) to invasive (whether they're HIV positive). The data helps caseworkers match homeless people with housing and services. In 2015, there were 3,141 homeless people counted in Dallas and Collin counties. Last year that number rose to about 3,900. This year's number may be even higher, partly due to an increase in volunteers counting people, giving a more accurate look at how many people are living on the streets and in shelters.   Continue reading...