Count BSM In!

February 3, 2014

BSM was pleased to serve as the gathering site for the annual “PIT Count” organized by Project HOME and PhillyCOUNTS. “PIT” stands for Point In Time. It is a kind of snapshot that is taken every January in Philadelphia and other cities across the country. It is a way for federal, state and local governments, and non-profit organizations to get a sense of the scope of the problem of homelessness, and how it is changing over time. This year BSM opened its doors on a bone chilling (14°) night as more than 350 volunteers came in to the sanctuary for a training session on how to do the survey in a way that is both safe and accurate.  At midnight they fanned out throughout the city to determine how many vulnerable adults and children are homeless and living outdoors. By 3 AM all the teams returned safe and sound with this important information.

All of us at BSM and our partner organizations are looking forward to the day (or night) when there is no PIT Count because every one of our neighbors is in a home and no one is living outdoors in our city.

To read more about the PIT count, read this article from News Works:
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/64425-counting-phillys-homeless-and-the-problems-that-keep-them-on-the-streets?linktype=hp_impact