It's 6 a.m. and the rain continues to fall as teams from Phoenix's Homelessness Task Force split up to search for people without shelter. It's hard to see on a dark, rainy morning, but Annette Medina watches from the passenger window of her car in the city.

“A lot of the places we're looking at are small coves and bus stops,” Medina said.

Even when the team finds people experiencing homelessness, it can be difficult to convince them to stand in the rain and talk.

Stephanie Greenleaf, the city's homeless liaison, jumped out of her driver's seat to check on a tent set up near a vacant lot on Camelback Road, but the person inside wouldn't answer her questions.

“It looked like the person had just used drugs,” Greenleaf said.

Cars stopped in city parks where tents had been set up and in front of storefronts where people were taking shelter from the rain. When people aren't talking, those involved in outreach efforts record their observations on smartphone apps. A man, believed to be in his 50s, is sleeping at a bus stop, and two young women are standing on a side street in an area known for sex trafficking.

Counting is complex and important

Katherine Davis-Young/KJZZ

City of Phoenix outreach workers speak to people at a bus stop during the annual Point-in-Time Homeless Count on Jan. 23, 2024.

The team then parks at a taco shop. There were nine people and two dogs huddled in the doorway. The sunshade is dripping. There is a large puddle in the parking lot. One man tried to push himself into a shopping cart in an attempt to sleep. An elderly woman is trying to cover her legs with a small blanket.

“I'm with the city. It's not like you're in trouble or anything,” Greenleaf exclaimed. “We are surveying people on the streets this morning.”

Several people agree to participate. An elderly woman holding a blanket told Greenlief that she had been living on the streets for three years. She has struggled with her mental health and has cancer, she says. Her support team provides her and others with a list of resources and encourages them to seek help.

These point-in-time homeless counts are required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in January of each year. Most cities across the country are participating to qualify for federal funding to address homelessness. In the Phoenix area, Count reveals dramatic increase in homelessness For the past 10 years. As a result, aggregation has become more complex and more important.

“The logistics are tough. We're talking about close to 10,000 people in a six-hour period,” said Brian Gruters, human services planner with the Maricopa Association of Governments.

MAG works with cities and nonprofit partners across the county to compile data collected during the annual point-in-time count. Gruters said the challenge is not only that the homeless population is increasing every year, but also that organizers have to cover a huge amount of land.

“It's really important to work in a distributed manner,” Gruters said. “That means involving all communities.”

We look forward to receiving more survey responses.

Katherine Davis-Young/KJZZ

Stephanie Greenleaf of the Phoenix Homeless Task Force conducted a homeless demographic survey with a man who declined to give his name during the annual point-in-time homeless count.

This year, 24 municipalities in Maricopa County organized teams to conduct a one-day count on January 23rd. In Phoenix, about 300 volunteers joined officials from the city's Homeless Task Force and other city departments to search the streets for unsheltered people. Count organizers also plan to collect occupancy records from homeless services and tally the number of sheltered homeless people in the county.

The final report is expected to be released in the spring. This will almost certainly reflect the continued growth in the region's homeless population. last year's count It showed that 9,642 people were experiencing homelessness, a record. But most of last year's increase came from the sheltered homeless population, reflecting efforts by the county, city of Phoenix and other municipalities to expand shelter capacity.

The final point-in-time report also includes demographic information about those counted, including age, race, ethnicity, and veteran status. While this information can help provide insight into the root causes of homelessness, the data tends to be incomplete, Gruters said.

Last year, only about 40% of those surveyed responded to the survey questions, Gruters said. He expects that number to increase this year.

“We're doing our best to make it as palatable to someone as possible. One of the key things we did this year was shorten the survey,” Gruters said.

If people refuse to answer survey questions, they will still be included in the final unsheltered number. But that figure is almost certainly an underestimate, said Richard Crews, program director at the nonprofit Keys to Change.

“We work with people who are good at not being counted, who are good at existing in the cracks and crevices of society as a means of survival,” Cruz said on KJZZ's “The Show.” Ta.

Homelessness has become more visible

Maricopa Government Association

The smartphone app used by outreach teams during point-in-time homeless counts records GPS data for each interaction.

Even with hundreds of volunteers participating, they won't reach every corner of every block in the area, and organizers hope to help people living in their cars, staying in motels, There is no way to count the number of people who Couchsurf. Cruz said the area's human services organizations keep records on the individuals they serve, which will likely yield data that provides a more accurate picture of Maricopa County's homelessness situation.

But by rolling out countywide and observing point-in-time counts each year, organizers can pinpoint where people experiencing homelessness are located. The smartphone app's outreach team records his GPS data with each interaction. For Gruters, this is one of the clearest ways to understand the enormity of the problem.

“You can tell by looking at the map,” Gruters said. “Everyone you count has a green dot, and they are from east to west and north to south.”

And when you combine consistent snapshots taken at the same time each year with other data, you start to see very clear trends.

In the 10 years that Greenleaf has been involved, the number of unsheltered people counted on the streets of Maricopa County during point-in-time counts has more than tripled.

“When I started, you really had to look for people, you had to have a flashlight and be on guard,” Greenleaf said.

Homelessness is now more visible in Phoenix, she said. And she hears more stories of people who can't make a living.

“Rents are going up, but benefits aren't going up at the same rate, and even people working minimum wage don't have enough money to afford housing,” Greenleaf said.

“I'm frustrated because I have more work to do,” Greenleaf said as she drove back from another day of recording these first-hand observations.

Regardless of what this year's report shows, Grealeaf said he just hopes lawmakers take note.

Katherine Davis-Young/KJZZ

Stephanie Greenleaf and Annette Medina of Phoenix Homelessness Task Force approach two tents during the annual point-in-time homeless count on Jan. 23, 2024.

Katherine Davis-Young/KJZZ

Stephanie Greenleaf of the Phoenix Homeless Task Force visits a tent set up at Steele Indian School Park.

Katherine Davis-Young/KJZZ

Stephanie Greenleaf and Annette Medina of the Phoenix Homeless Task Force are working to help two people living in tents along Camelback Road.

Katherine Davis-Young/KJZZ

After encountering people experiencing homelessness, Stephanie Greenleaf and Annette Medina of the Phoenix Homeless Task Force record their observations on a smartphone app.

More stories from KJZZ