Texarkana group prepares homeless count

The Texarkana Homeless Coalition is gearing up for their annual "Point-in-Time count."

Similar counts are being held across the country all this week.

Homeless coalition member Bryan Bixler says numbers gathered from the homeless count will be submitted to the Texas Homeless Network so that state and area numbers can be tabulated.

Results will be used by service providers for grant writing and educational purposes.

There were 275 people counted in last year's homeless count.

One of their goals is to find out if that number is going up and down.

Bixler says the count is important because it helps them determine the extent of the needs in the homeless population.

He says most people would be surprised to know how high the number is of men, women and children living without a home in the Tearkana area.

The homeless count is Thursday, January 24th near the Randy Sams' Outreach Shelter.

This year there will also be a service fair and those surveyed will have access to multiple service providers under one roof to answer questions or complete applications.

The results of the count will be available in the Spring.