The Ottawa Area Housing Coalition gathers data about homelessness in Ottawa County in order to improve service to homeless individuals and families. We share that data with federal agencies that provide a national view on the problem of homeless. Eleven agencies in the county participate in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)—a system of agencies that work together to gather information about homelessness in the county in order to provide better support and services. Through these and other partnerships, we gather the following data in Ottawa County:
Point in Time Study
The Point-in-Time Count provides a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons living in emergency shelter, transitional housing and in places not meant for human habitation. Counts are further broken down into subpopulation categories including counts of persons who are chronically homeless, persons with severe mental illness, chronic substance abusers, veterans, persons with HIV/AIDS, victims of domestic violence and unaccompanied children. Twice a year—in January and in August—Ottawa County conducts a county-wide Point in Time count of homeless individuals through HMIS.
Ottawa Point in Time 2009-2011
The PULSE Project
The Homelessness PULSE project is intended to help the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gain a better understanding of the impact of the current economic crisis on homelessness. This understanding relies heavily on collecting up-to-date information on how counts of homeless persons may be changing as the crisis unfolds. The PULSE Project provides point-in-time shelter counts of homeless persons that are served on a specified quarterly date and also a count of “newly” homeless persons served in the reporting quarter.
Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR)
The Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) is a report to the U.S. Congress on the extent and nature of homelessness in America. The report is prepared by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and provides nationwide estimates of homelessness, including information about the demographic characteristics of homeless persons, service use patterns, and the capacity to house homeless persons. The report is based primarily on Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) data about persons who experience homelessness during a 12-month period. Links to a sample of the available reports for Ottawa County are located below. For more information contact the Lyn Raymond, System Administrator at 738-1170 ext.133.
Annual Homeless Assessment Report 2010-2011
Annual Homeless Assessment Report 2010-2011. Demographics
Annual Housing Inventory Chart
The Housing Inventory Count collects information about all of the beds and units in each Continuum of Care homeless system, categorized by five program types as well as unmet needs.
For more information contact the Lyn Raymond, System Administrator at 738-1170 ext.133.
Youth Assessment Survey
This survey of youth homelessness and housing recently found that 5% of students surveyed in Ottawa County reported not having a place to stay at some point during the 12 months preceding the survey. The complete survey, conducted by the Ottawa County Health Department, can be found at http://www.miottawa.org/HealthComm/Health/reports/2009.htm .
Nationwide Homelessness Data
Data we collect at the county level is channeled to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide nationwide reports on homelessness. The following national reports on homelessness can be found at http://www.hudhdx.info/.
*NOTE: None of the data made available identifies specific characteristics of any homeless person.
