[NEWS] Homelessness in the Philly region, by the numbers

From WHYY:

Thousands of people are experiencing homelessness across the Delaware Valley.

This year’s point-in-time counts of people experiencing homelessness recorded more than 700 people living unsheltered in Philadelphia, a total of more than 200 in Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware counties, close to 200 in the state of Delaware, and over 700 across nine counties in South Jersey.

The unsheltered numbers in point-in-time counts, which are conducted on a single night each January, are likely underestimates, said Candice Player, vice president of advocacy, public policy, and street outreach at the Philly-based nonprofit Project HOME.

“That number comes to us from volunteers who go out on the night of the PIT count and just look and see who appears to be homeless on that night,” Player said. “It doesn’t include people who are likely sleeping in abandoned buildings or maybe in a car and hard to detect. It doesn’t include people who are couch surfing.”