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K-Count Goes into Shelters, Woods and Stairwells to Collect Data on Kentucky Homeless

Rhonda J. Miller

Community groups and volunteers across Kentucky are taking part this week in the annual count of the homeless. 

In Kentucky it’s called K-Count, and most of the counting was done Jan. 29 at homeless shelters, in the woods, behind buildings, and wherever people who have no place to live might be sleeping. 

Some of the count was also done at shelters on the morning of Jan. 30, with homeless individuals who were not counted on the previous night.

For the first time, K-Count data collectors used an app this year to upload information, in addition to traditional paper forms.

In the Bluegrass State the count is coordinated by the Kentucky Housing Corporation, with projects done regionally, mostly by social service nonprofits and volunteers.

In south central Kentucky, Barren River Area Safe Space, or BRASS, oversees the project in 10  counties.

The K-Count done on Jan. 30, 2019 found 4,079 people were in shelters, transitional housing or unsheltered. 

In 2018 K-Count count found 3,688 homeless individuals across Kentucky.

The 2017 K-Count reported 3,400 homeless across the state. 

The “point-in-time” count is done across the nation at the end of January. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, requires the information for funding for programs that assist the homeless.

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