The 2020 Nationwide Homelessness Count

On January 28th, volunteers will conduct the annual “Point-In-Time Homeless Count” in Sioux Falls.  This is a nationwide event that counts any individual or family experiencing homelessness in our city.

The Director of Augustana Research Institute, Suzanne Smith says last year's survey showed that almost 1,000 people are homeless in the State of South Dakota.  “Last year during the ‘Point-In-Time Count,' we counted about 334 people in Sioux Falls who are experiencing homelessness,” says Smith.

Annually, on a designated day in January, volunteers visit different shelters and organizations throughout the state to conduct a survey about each site’s respective homelessness history.  This survey is through the “Counting Us” app, and it provides federal officials with a "snapshot" of what the current homeless population looks like in our area. This survey helps our community become aware of the issue.  Smith explains, “For our community, it’s really important that we acknowledge homelessness and that we have an objective and long-term measure of how we’re doing when it comes to homelessness. This way we can track any change over time and know if we’re doing better or worse and how many families there are out there.”

If you would like to volunteer, please attend the Training Session tomorrow, January 14th at Augustana University in the Beloit Room from 11:30 A.M.-1:30 P.M.  If you are unable to attend this session, please contact Suzanne Smith at (605)-274-5010 or suzanne.smith@augie.edu for further information.