Annual PIT count underway

Point in time (PIT) count volunteer Heather Berry with Saving Mercy conducts a survey with a man waiting for the noon meal at the Brother’s Keeper soup kitchen on Jan. 22, during the second day of the 2026 HUD required survey, which is conducted locally by the Ocala/ Marion County Joint Office of Homelessness Prevention. [Photo by Andy Fillmore/Ocala Gazette]

Where did you sleep on the night of Jan. 21?

That’s one of the questions members of the Ocala/ Marion County Joint Office on Homelessness Prevention and volunteers asked people who were lined up for the noon meal at the Brother’s Keeper soup kitchen in downtown Ocala on Jan. 22.

The appeal for information was made during the second day of the annual Department of Housing and Urban Development required “PIT,” or point in time, count of people living within local shelters or outdoors and unsheltered. 

The PIT count seeks to find the number of people living in outreaches like the Salvation Army Center of Hope or outdoors in cars, camps or wherever they can find refuge throughout Marion County on one specific night.  

Teams spread out countywide on Jan. 21, the first day of the count, to census people living unsheltered in Ocala, Belleview, Summerfield and other areas, according to August Bonno, a PIT count volunteer and city of Ocala outreach and referral specialist.

Robin Ford, the city’s deputy director of Community Development Services, said about 20 counters were involved in this year’s PIT count. She said the count could continue for up to about a week, but the sleeping whereabouts response must be for the night of Jan. 21.

Records shared by Sister Concepta Najjemba, manager of the Brother’s Keeper soup kitchen, showed an average of 185 people were served the noon meal on at least two recent days.

Several people waiting in the food line shared their situations with PIT counters. Scott Eugene “Cowboy” Richardson, 68, for example, said he slept outdoors within the city limits. He has a bicycle to get around.

Derrek, his 13-year-old daughter and his fiancée slept in his silver Hyundai SUV wherever they could discreetly park overnight. His losing his job was a factor in their situation.

Scott, 43, sleeps unsheltered wherever he can until police officers, who he called “jump out boys,” make him move along. Scott said he has had four strokes and two heart attacks.

“The doctor said I can’t work, so what do you do?” he said.

James Haynes, a PIT count volunteer and the city’s director of Community Development Services, commented on his observation of unsheltered outdoor camps in the county. 

“The camps are not as big and they’re spread out in the county,” he said. 

Haynes said the warmer weather this year compared to last may lead to a better census.

Michelle Collier, a count volunteer, is with Interfaith Emergency Services, a leading local agency that provides essential services to people experiencing homelessness, including a walk-in engagement center to help with obtaining identification, employment information and more.

Collier said she made contact with about 16 people at one point of the count and that five, all of whom were homeless, agreed to an interview.

Andrea and Michael, who preferred to use only first names for security, are with the anti-domestic violence outreach CASA Marion (Community Action Stops Abuse). The two were PIT volunteer counters, as were Courtney Salem and Heather Berry with Saving Mercy, a local housing support outreach.

The annual PIT count is required by HUD to establish local guidelines for allowing federal grants to members of the Continuum of Care, which provide services to people experiencing homelessness. The Marion County HUD FL-514Continuum of Care includes several local help agencies and outreaches like Interfaith and the Salvation Army.

The Florida Department of Children and Families website, at myflfamilies.com, states that last year’s preliminary PIT count data listed 160 people living unsheltered and 231 people living sheltered countywide.

Thomas Butler, the Marion County Public Schools homeless liaison, stated in an email that MCPS has about 1,200 students who are considered homeless and that 447 families are expected to “face homelessness through the school year,” under McKinney-Vento Act guidelines used by the school district to identify homelessness.

However, Butler cautioned, the guidelines are different for the PIT count and the McKinney-Vento Act guidelines. 

“The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal education law designed to ensure educational stability and access for children and youth experiencing homelessness. Under McKinney-Vento, homelessness is defined more broadly as lacking a fixed, regular and adequate night-time residence. This definition includes students who are doubled up with other families due to loss of housing or economic hardship, living in motels or hotels, staying in shelters or residing in places not meant for human habitation,” Butler noted. 

“The PIT count provides a snapshot of homelessness on one night and focuses on the most visible forms of homelessness. In contrast, McKinney-Vento captures a cumulative and broader view of student homelessness over the course of the school year. As a result, many students and families who qualify as homeless under McKinney-Vento are not counted in the PIT count,” he said.

The 2026 PIT count results, when completed, will not be immediately released by HUD. The “Gazette” will report the numbers when they become available.