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Citing COVID-19 concerns, Austin's Ending Community Homelessness Coalition announced via a release on Thursday that the annual Point in Time Count would not happen this year.
The PIT Count is a nationwide event that enlists hundreds of volunteers to track the number of people experiencing homelessness and count data on the city's homeless population; the PIT Count is required in communities that receive federal funding for homelessness relief.
Instead, ECHO requested an exception from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to use other resources to measure homelessness data this year. It will be using the Homeless Management Information System for 2021.
Last year, Austin's PIT Count was taken by 886 volunteers. In its statement, ECHO said that going through with the count "would be irresponsible at best and negligent at worst," for the following reasons:
- Rising COVID-19 cases in Austin/Travis County that recently triggered Stage 5 guidelines
- People experiencing homelessness are at high risk of developing severe complications from COVID-19 and contact tracing is more difficult
- A lack of health insurance in Austin/Travis County limits access to testing and/or treatment
- An in-person count would pull resources, within ECHO and among direct service providers, away from the COVID-19 emergency response
- A lower volunteer turnout resulting from safety guidelines would almost certainly lead to an undercount, which is more damaging to the response system than estimating the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness using other datasets
ECHO said it would expect to see an increase in homelessness if they did perform a count, due in part to the economic struggles the Austin community has faced in light of COVID-19.
"A lot of people are hurting right now, and while we don't currently have data to show an increase in homelessness in Austin as a result, we expect to start seeing the effects in the coming weeks and months," ECHO Research and Evaluation Director Akram Al-Turk said. "We can look to other data points, like unemployment and eviction rates, to understand the impact of the pandemic and how many families will continue to suffer without assistance from every level of government."
ECHO counted 2,506 people across the city experiencing homelessness in 2020. 1,574 of them were without shelter altogether, a 45% increase in the city's unsheltered population from 2019. Homelessness has been one of the most pressing issues facing the city in recent years.
(ECHO)
This year, ECHO will still count the number of individuals experiencing sheltered homelessness on Jan. 28, and the Housing Inventory Count, which measures housing opportunities. With that data and the HMIS count, ECHO will estimate unsheltered homelessness on the night of the count.
ECHO said they don't anticipate this to impact funding.
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(Pexels)
Caused mostly by a February recall due to contamination issues, followed by the Abbott Nutrition factory closure in Michigan, the shortage has left Austin shelves barren. However, earlier this week, U.S. officials announced a plan with the facility to restart production.
In the meantime, local parents in crisis have turned toward the Mother’s Milk Bank to keep their babies fed.
HEB on East 7th has been picked clean of formula and is limiting purchases. (Laura Figi/Austonia)
The milk bank—which takes donations from lactating mothers and dispenses milk to babies in the NICU—has been helping feed upwards of 30 families in need as the formula supply tightens.
According to the bank’s executive director Kim Updegrove, Mother’s Milk Bank has seen an uptick in calls from parents with healthy babies in need of help since the shortage began.
“We aren't used to hearing from families with healthy infants,” Updegrove said. “They're typically very upset, angry, frustrated, sobbing—it's scary to not be able to feed your infants. So in the past few weeks, those calls have been significantly increasing.”
Mothers are only able to donate if they are within a year postpartum, so Updegrove said they are constantly bringing on and retiring donors. While donors had been on a 30% decline leftover from 2021 when the shortage began, Updegrove said the shortage has led to mass community interest and more than 90 prospective donors in just the past few days.
“We and other milk banks are experiencing significant interest from the community—becoming milk donors and helping to turn around this crisis,” Updegrove said. “Every infant needs to be fed, every one of us can relate to that need, and we need to make sure as a community that it happens.”
Whole Foods downtown was also cleaned out of typical formula. (Laura Figi/Austonia)
While you may still be able to find formula at places like Whole Foods—which currently has goat milk, soy and plant-based formula in stock—Updegrove said it might not be what a baby needs.
Updegrove said it is best to buy types that say “infant formula,” as they are FDA approved and will provide the nutrients, vitamins and minerals a baby needs. Plant-based, homemade, non-cow's milk or diluting formula may not provide the same nutritional value.
As the community navigates the shortage, Updegrove said the most important way to help out is to not panic buy or stockpile.
“This is a crisis for families,” Updegrove said. “This is the time for the community to gather together and figure out what everyone can do to help families with young infants.”
