CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A team of volunteers will be doing getting an accurate count of the area's homeless population throughout Nueces County.
The group's mission is to survey people who are staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing, and are living on the street.
The point in time count to identify the number and of homeless persons will dictate how much funding the government will give to Nueces County to combat homelessness.
"It's not society's concept of just laziness. I honestly see a lot of mental health, drug addiction, lack of resource support such as family," Kyle Knutson said.
Volunteers are walking around person to person, asking a series of 35 questions. They are looking for the reasons why and how individuals are living on the streets.
"We got to the streets, the shelters, the bridges, the rural areas everywhere you could think of to try and get an accurate count," Knutson said.
Based on the numbers, it will be decided how much funding will go to the county for special projects and programs that will help get individuals off the streets.
In 2019, Nueces County's total was 360 homeless people as of Friday, Jan 24, we're currently at 598.
"I think a lot of it's to do with the climate and the location. You can live here comfortably outside pretty much year-round. It's just where we're located there are beaches you can live on as well," Knutson said.
The biggest goal for 2020 is to be at functional 0, which means there are enough resources for homeless vets, and the only way they can remain homeless is if they choose to be.
More from 3News on KIIITV.com:
- Who owns this toolbox? Investigators in Aransas Pass believe answer could be key in case of woman found dead in box
- Texas A&M student may have 2019 novel coronavirus, university says
- Woman, child hospitalized after rollover accident on I-37 near Joe Fulton Corridor
- Utah woman's stepkids saw her topless. She may have to register as sex offender