Led by the Homeless Coalition’s Outreach and Engagement Committee,  the CoC held their unsheltered PIT count on the same night - Wednesday, January 24 – but conducted the majority of the count the following morning. The unsheltered PIT count is specifically intended for those individuals living in encampments, cars, or any other place not meant for human habitation. The unsheltered PIT count is not easily accessed through a database and takes months of planning and preparation. To reach the entire county, a great deal of people-power, coordination, and teamwork is needed. Not only do outreach workers build and maintain rapport with unsheltered individuals all year, but keeping track of constantly moving camps is a feat within itself, due in part to encampment sweeps and laws that restrict where unhoused individuals can stay. In January 2024, the Knoxville Police Department agreed to a partial hold on encampment sweeps for the week before and week after the count, which allowed outreach workers some stability to plan for the count.   

There are other factors, however, that the local community has no control over. With the recent snow storm and multiple days of rain, many encampments were deserted or moved in favor of drier, safer land. Thankfully, the weather did not dissuade over 55 volunteers – the most our continuum has ever seen at a PIT count – from coming out to help with the survey. With the help of staff from VMC, CAC, The McNabb Center, Veterans’ Affairs, Fig Tree, the  Block-by-Block Ambassadors, Knox County Health Department, The Magnolia Ministries, KnoxHMIS, HUD, Choice Health Network, Community Law Office, Grow Free TN, the Office of Housing Stability, Ridgeview Behavioral Health, the University of Tennessee, and our neighbor CoC Tennessee Valley Coalition for the Homeless, we were able to cover more ground in Knox County than ever before!