Annual census survey aims to help homeless in northeast Florida

Jacksonville, FL — One organization is counting how many homeless people are living in our area to help get funding for vital programs aimed at helping them.

Wednesday morning volunteers with Changing Homelessness bundled up and scoured the beaches looking for people sleeping outside for the 2020 census survey.

Nate has lived outside for the past 10 years.

"It can be tough, thank God we're not in Detroit or Minnesota or something," he said.

The group is counting people like Nate because its needed to get funding for programs that help the homeless.

More than 1,600 people in Northeast Florida are homeless, according to the count in 2018.

The group is giving out surveys to people living out on the streets.

They're asking questions like how long it's been since they've stayed in permanent housing and where they'll be sleeping tonight,especially with the weather being so cold.

Justin Foster volunteered by handing out surveys.

"It's important to see where the homeless population is and who exactly we need to direct the resources, is it people of color, is it queer people of color, is it veterans, stuff like that," Foster said.

The cold is having an impact on the number of people they’re able to count too.

"We actually didn't see as many as we many as we thought there was going to be because most of them were at he cold shelters at the shelters in Neptune Beach, so it's good to know what people know where to do when it's cold," Foster said.

Only 30 surveys in the beaches area were filled out Wednesday morning.

Foster told me it made her more aware of whose living in the streets in her community.

"We found in this area that it was definitely people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s," she said.

Changing Homelessness says it could take several weeks until they figure out how many people are homeless in Northeast Florida because they’re still collecting data throughout the week.