March 12, 2026
At 4 a.m. on Thursday, February 5, a team of employees, most of them social workers from the Department of Community & Human Services and partner agencies, gathered to participate in the annual Point in Time (PIT) Count. Each year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) leads communities across the country in conducting a one-night “snapshot” of people living unsheltered.
On this early morning, the temperature was 26 degrees. The Count had been postponed from the previous week due to sub-zero wind chills and icy snow. The interview teams headed out to canvass the city, which was divided into four sections, looking in spots where unhoused residents slept, including woods, bus shelters, overpasses, metro stations, building and store porticos, and parking garages.
They spoke with unhoused individuals, some of whom were known to them, to learn more about what currently contributes to people being homeless. Do they have a disability? Employment or other earnings? Were they ever in foster care? Served in the military? Treated for a mental health condition? Have they ever gone to the shelter and are they aware of services in the city?
The PIT Count helps convey the scope of homelessness, identify and assess unmet needs and gaps in services, inform funding and planning decisions, and evaluate progress made in preventing and ending homelessness.
The PIT Count isn’t only about numbers, however. Interviewers carried bags of supplies to give to those who accepted. Toiletry and first aid products, gloves, socks, snacks, a gift card, and a resource card directing them to a wide range of city supports and services.
Interviewers such as Family Services Specialist and Lead Case Manager ChiQuitta Williams appreciate that they may be seen as faces of a system unhoused people struggle within, and as strangers entering spaces where they are trying to survive. “I understand the complexity of our encounters, and everything they have to endure, including braving the elements. I meet them where they are, respecting who they choose to be in that moment, even when it is hard to witness.”
Some unhoused individuals decline the interview. The interviewers note their location and a few characteristics and move on. Others are familiar with the PIT Count and leave when they see interviewers coming. Most participate without hesitation and may even be happy to connect and share an excerpt of their lives, gracious for the bag of basic need items.
The Count includes data representing people who spent the night in emergency shelters and transitional housing as well. The results of the 2026 PIT Count will be available in early April.
For information about homelessness, what to do if you are concerned about someone, and services in the City of Alexandria, please visit alexandriava.gov/go/2478 where a 2025 video interview with residents in a local shelter is available as well as a link to order copies of the Community Resource Card in English and Spanish.
