said in December<\/a> hadn\u2019t been successful in connecting people to long-term housing.\u00a0<\/p>\nHe later reversed his position, putting Department of Homeless Services outreach workers in the lead, instead of the police or sanitation workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The switch could drastically change the outcomes for people living outside, Dalton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s focus on those who are most vulnerable, people who\u2019ve decided they\u2019re not going to accept traditional options,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are traumatized by the services they may have received in the past, and they\u2019ve decided, amongst the harshest conditions, to stay outside.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
People looking to reform the city\u2019s policies and outreach towards unsheltered people was one reason the HOPE count began in the first place.<\/p>\n
Maryanne Schretzman is the executive director of the Center for Innovation through Data Intelligence, a city office that works with all health and human services agencies to identify what\u2019s needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She helped start the HOPE count, first as a pilot in Manhattan and Brooklyn before expanding citywide in 2005, in part because the city was \u201cconstantly being sued\u201d by organizations like Legal Aid, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Maryanne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/031026_homeless_count-10.jpg\")
Maryanne Schretzman prepares to help with the city\u2019s annual homeless outreach survey, March 10, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/p>\n
\u201cThe advocates were saying there were tens and tens of thousands of people [on the street] and we weren\u2019t clear if that was true or not,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we wanted to get a pulse on what that actual count is, so that if we knew what the numbers were, then we can manage to those numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their methodology is to flood the city all at once, even in \u201clow\u201d areas where there isn\u2019t usually any street homeless, to get as accurate a picture.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Volunteers watched a video training before Tuesday night and received another refresher before heading out at midnight. Inside PS 116\u2019s gym, a few dozen people gathered at tables to go over their coverage areas, loading up on donuts and coffee and candy to get ready to stay up through the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Olivia Waldron, 23, found out about the count last year through her job at the Robin Hood Foundation. She was the captain of Team 9, which reporters from THE CITY joined.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was struck by how connected she felt to the city during her first count last year. People often want a village, she added, \u201cbut they don\u2019t want to be a villager.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people who \u2026 complain about things: the city is going through an affordability crisis,\u201d she said. \u201cYou need to have strategy and empathy to fix these problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
After midnight, Team 9\u2019s four members canvassed the 28th Street 6 and R and W stations, along with streets along Broadway and Sixth Avenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The work wrapped up after 1 a.m., with around 15 people tracked. Not everyone was unhoused, and not everyone spoke to the group; the app allows for observations of people who appear to be homeless and asleep.<\/p>\n
Some groups didn\u2019t encounter anyone who was unhoused. THE CITY also went out in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, but didn\u2019t find anyone.<\/p>\n
The final tally, sent out Wednesday morning, said volunteers covered 1,491 unique areas across the city, although the full data will be released later this year.<\/p>\n
Dalton said the HOPE count experience could change people\u2019s perception of who is experiencing homelessness<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will see both what people think is homelessness, but also the changing face of homelessness, which is older, people who are working,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople who have spent their whole lives working but just find themselves crowded out of the housing market.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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![\"Department](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/031026_homeless_count-4-4.jpg\")
Department of Social Services Commissioner Erin Dalton speaks with volunteers preparing to help with the city\u2019s annual homeless outreach survey, March 10, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/p>\n