Point-In-Time (PIT)
Our Annual Homeless Count
Every year, during a single night in January, communities across the nation hit the streets to get a count of their local homeless populations.
It’s called Point-In-Time, or PIT, a mandated effort by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to count the vulnerable homeless population in America.
Locally, Aurora coordinates PIT counts for Vanderburgh, Posey, Warrick, Spencer, Perry, Gibson, Daviess, Dubois, Pike and Knox counties. These counties make up Region 12 of Indiana’s Balance of State Continuum of Care.
Our 2025 PIT count was January 29-30.
From noon on January 29 to noon on January 30, teams of volunteers and service providers in Region 12 went out into their communities to create a snapshot of their sheltered and unsheltered homeless.
Data collected during this year’s PIT will be available later this year once it’s finalized by HUD.
The point-in-time count helps us find people who are in real need, get them connected with services, and improve our local system as we work towards ending long-term homelessness.”
Point-in-Time Basics
- Point-In-Time (PIT) data provides a snapshot of homelessness here and across the country.
- It counts individuals who are sheltered (emergency shelters and transitional housing) and unsheltered (living in cars, parks, encampments or other places not meant for habitation).
- PIT helps us secure funding for the homeless by proving need.
- It helps drive local and state policy to protect the homeless.
- Locally, PIT data and the count itself is invaluable.
- PIT helps us connect with some local homeless individuals who are often hard to reach.
- It helps us identify real needs, gaps in the system, and ways we can better allocate resources.
- On January 29-30, about 30 volunteers and service providers conducted the 2025 PIT count in Vanderburgh County with another 25 counting in surrounding Indiana counties.
- In addition to counting individuals, these PIT teams gathered demographic data, including age, gender, race, veteran status, and special needs (e.g., mental health or substance use issues). This information helps us to better understand the populations we serve.
- Data is anonymous and confidential.
- Our local data must be sent to HUD by May. HUD collects PIT data from across the country and publishes it later in the summer. Once that's done, we can publish our local data.
- Since it's difficult to account for all our homeless, PIT is just one of several methods we use to gain a comprehensive picture of homelessness in Vanderburgh County.
2024 Vanderburgh PIT Data
These numbers represent real people in real crises. They're listed as individuals, not households. The 2024 PIT data is the most recent available. We expect to have 2025 data later this year.
514
Total Homeless
509 in 2023
352 in 2022
396
Adults No Children
392 in 2023
291 in 2022
118
Adults Plus Children
117 in 2023
62 in 2022
62
Chronically Homeless
80 in 2023
71 in 2022
16
Youth on Own
21 in 2023
14 in 2022
34
Veterans
32 in 2023
30 in 2022
Factors to consider
- 2024 — Lack of affordable housing. Higher cost of living having a greater impact on those with existing barriers.
- 2023 — End of eviction moratorium and pandemic rental assistance relief. Increasing cost of living expenses.
- 2022 — Eviction moratorium associated with COVID reduced the number of individuals experiencing homelessness, delaying landlord response for lease violations.