COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – The point-in-time count is approaching, which determines the number of unhoused people across the country on a single night.
For El Paso County, staff and volunteers with ChangeLine have been preparing all year, following a record count in 2025.
ChangeLine leads the PIT count in the county, and Community Relations Manager Merrina Mendez said an accurate count is crucial and plays a role in how much federal funding organizations get.
In 2025, homelessness in El Paso County increased by around 600 people. Mende said it wasn’t necessarily an increase, though, but rather a more accurate count.
Mendez said ChangeLine achieved a more accurate count by having more volunteers out in the community surveying the unhoused than in previous years.
Because changes to the process were made last year, Mendez said ChangeLine plans to utilize a similar number of volunteers, around 125, in order to remain consistent.
The organization wants to avoid changing the PIT count formula too often so that trends are not disrupted.
“We want to make sure we can look back in years from now and see we remained consistent in methodology,” Mendez continued. “We have such a great foundation to go off of, so we are excited to repeat it and see where it gets us.”
The 2026 PIT count lands on Saturday, January 24, and volunteers will conduct surveys for four days after that.
The count is comprised of how many sheltered and unsheltered unhoused people there are.
Mendez said the weather could affect the outcome of the count, as more people seek shelter and the City of Colorado Springs expands warming shelters.
“At its core, accuracy means people are seen, counted and not overlooked, but involved in the solutions our community comes up with when it comes to homelessness,” said Mendez.
ChangeLine is still looking for volunteers to help conduct surveys from January 25 through 28.
Officials ask that volunteers have a background in working with the unhoused.
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