Home News Pickaway County – PICCA to count local homeless this month

Pickaway County – PICCA to count local homeless this month

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CIRCLEVILLE, OHIO (January 14, 2025) – Pickaway County Community Action Organization (PICCA) will count the number of county residents experiencing homelessness at the end of January.

PICCA’s annual Point-In-Time count (PIT) begins the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 28 and concludes the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 29.

On one night each year, PICCA staff and volunteers visit local shelters, transitional housing centers, and areas where people are living unsheltered. The federally mandated program helps inform agencies how to allocate resources for housing and other services.

To encourage the unhoused to be counted, PICCA will host a drop-in center in the basement of its headquarters at 469 E. Ohio Street in Circleville from 7 to 10 p.m. on Jan. 28. Visitors receive food, supplies, and information about available assistance programs.

“The Point-in-Time count is mandated but it helps learn how many homeless people are in the county and what their needs are,” said Executive Director Becky Hammond. “We want those who are experiencing homelessness to know that we are here, we care and we want to connect them to services.”

Fallon Kingery, PICCA’s community services director, said it’s difficult to count every person who is unsheltered on one night, but the agency does the best it can.

“It gives us a glimpse of what we’re seeing in the community,” Kingery said. “Every bit of information helps.”

While PICCA reported 30 homeless individuals living in shelters, and 16 who were unsheltered to the federal government in 2024, Kingery said she believes the number of homeless in Pickaway County is much higher.

To assist the homeless and local families in need, PICCA last October launched the Soap-n-Hope Mobile Hygiene Unit, which offers shower stalls and laundry services free of charge. The 32-foot trailer was paid for with an $85,000 grant from the city of Circleville. The grant was from the city’s opioid-settlement fund. 

Soap-n-Hope usually is open daily for operations on PICCA’s East Ohio Street property. However, recent freezing temperatures have forced a temporary suspension of services to protect the trailer’s operating systems. Soap-n-Hope will resume services once outside temperatures climb above freezing.

For more information, call PICCA at (740) 477-1655.