MDVA partners with MACV to conduct Point-In-Time Count
MACV and Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs united forces to count the unidentified Veterans in Minnesota who were living without a home! The Point-In-Time (PIT) count is meant to serve as a snapshot of homelessness in a community and to provide a sense of the overall scope of homelessness in America.
Over 24 hours, for the annual PIT count we gathered statistics on unsheltered individuals residing in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or safe havens: an important step towards ensuring every Veteran has access to stable housing options.
“This unique opportunity gave us the chance to pool our resources and meet those Veterans in crisis face to face where they were at. We took this opportunity to act on a tip from a St. Paul Partner who found out a Veteran had been evicted from a local encampment and was living in a tent by the train tracks. We found him, got him out of the cold, into the Union Gospel Mission shelter and safe moving forward.” -Senior Outreach Case Manager Amanda Hooper
The PIT count is an important step in helping to end Veteran homelessness, but it is not the only way we track Veterans experiencing homelessness in Minnesota. On a day to day basis, we use the Homeless Veteran Registry to help programs and partners coordinate efforts. MACV and the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs are always committed to working together to ensure that all Veterans have access to stable housing options.