As featured in the Denton Record-Chronicle on 9/17/2017 by Julia Falcon...
With homelessness an ongoing issue in Denton and the county, City Council member Keely Briggs and Dani Shaw, the city's human services coordinator, discussed recent numbers and gave an update on the area's homeless population.
Briggs invited Shaw for the council member's "District 2 Conversation" on Sunday at North Branch Library.
The Denton County Homeless Coalition coordinates the Point-in-Time count every year to fulfill requirements for federal funding of housing and supportive services, according to the coalition's website.
Talking to a group of about 30 people, Shaw said the goal of the Denton County Homeless Leadership Team is to make homelessness rare, brief and non-occurring.
"We are managing the homelessness situation. As the population increases, homelessness increases," Shaw said. "Every year is a challenge."
The Point-in-Time count for 2017 surveyed a total of 228 people in Denton County. On one day every January, volunteers go to shelters, encampments and other places to tally the homeless, find out what services are needed and gain a better understanding of their situations.
This year, 69.6 percent of people surveyed were male and 29.9 percent were female, while zero identified themselves as transgender and 0.05 percent did not identify. One-half percent of respondents were age 17 or younger, 13.5 percent were ages 18-24, 83.2 percent were 25-65 and 2.8 percent were 65 or older.
The last count from Denton County public schools, from 2014-15, found 2,096 children who were homeless. The school districts with the highest rates of homelessness were Denton ISD and Lewisville ISD.
"The youth is vastly underrated," Shaw said.
The two main reasons for homelessness found in this year's survey were unemployment and inability to pay rent or a mortgage.
There are currently 3,000 people using Housing Choice Vouchers, previously known as Section 8 housing, distributed by the Denton Housing Authority.
The voucher program gives low- and moderate-income families assistance with paying rent.
"People think there is no difference between affordable housing and Section 8," Briggs said.
The local homeless coalition is looking to create funds for the Denton County homelessness barrier fund, homelessness education and a panhandling awareness campaign.
Briggs said the key to combating homelessness is education, and awareness goes on from there.
According to Briggs, the biggest thing residents can do to help is have compassion.
"If you see someone struggling, they can get help within the community," Briggs said. "Get them into a system to see what their needs are."