Hoping a snapshot of homelessness illustrates a path forward

Clark County officials and volunteers gather to conduct the annual Point-in-Time homeless county. (Photo: Michael Lyle/Nevada Current)

The morning light is barely starting to pierce through the sky when a group volunteering to conduct the annual homeless census meet Cindy Williams, who is wearing a bright pink sweatshirt and holding a sign that reads “Hungry. Thank you. God Bless”

The group, which includes U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford and Clark County Commissioner Richard “Tick” Segerblom, walked by people tucked away inside tents and sleeping bags along the sidewalks of Katie Avenue near Maryland Parkway. 

Williams, who said she has experienced homelessness off and on for 13 years, is the first one who is awake and willing to speak.

Clark County Social Services Assistant Manager Brenda Barnes squats down to ask Williams  how long she’s experienced homelessness, assess her needs, and answer her questions about getting her Social Security card. 

“Would you be willing to go to a non-congregate shelter?” asked Barnes, referring to the type of shelter that has more privacy than dorm-style emergency shelters.

Williams tells her another nonprofit had previously picked her up to take her to shelter. 

“They wanted to put me out in a shelter on Boulder Highway with nothing around me,” she said. “You can’t walk to the store or anything.” 

Barnes told Williams she would send a caseworker from another nonprofit out to work with her. After collecting information, the group continued walking. 

While Barnes said it is possible to send out social service providers to assist the people they talk with during the annual Point in Time count, the focus of the morning is on estimating – and better understanding – how many people could be experiencing homelessness on any given night. 

Southern, Northern, and Rural Nevada Continuums of Care, the local network of agencies and service providers that provide assistance and housing resources to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, all conducted homeless counts Jan. 25.

Results won’t come until later in the year. 

Segerblom wouldn’t speculate on what numbers might show this year.

“Visibility right now, and maybe it’s because of the weather, but it seems like it has very much increased,” Segerblom said. “I’m getting so many complaints about visible camps right now.”

Last year’s count showed rates of homelessness throughout the state increased from the previous year.

Southern Nevada alone had a 16% increase in homelessness from its previous year –  in fact the largest counted in a decade.

There were 6,566 people counted in January, 2023. An estimated 16,251 were expected to experience homelessness in Clark County at some point in the year.

Washoe County, which reported 1,690 during its 2023 canvas, had a slight increase from the previous year at 1,609. The number was just slightly lower than the 1,708 counted in 2021. 

There were 1,231 counted in Washoe in 2020.