Volunteers search Phenix City riverbank in annual homeless count

As organizers fanned out to count the Chattahoochee Valley homeless population on Wednesday morning, an effort was made to count those on the Alabama side.

Just after 6 a.m. about a half dozen volunteers working with Home for Good, a United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley agency tasked with carrying out the city of Columbus’ 10-year plan to end homelessness, spent considerable time and effort along the Alabama riverbank.

The annual count, required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has been conducted since 2009 and this is the most attention that has been paid to getting an accurate number of the Alabama side, said Pat Frey, director of Home for Good.

After more than two hours of combing the Alabama side along the river, a traditional spot for homeless activity, the volunteers found just three men who identified themselves as homeless. They were in a concrete substructure just below the Dillingham Street Bridge, a short walk from downtown Columbus.

Mitch Kilday, who works with the Phenix City Housing Authority, conducted the “Point in Time” survey of a man in his 50s.

“They were sleeping on couches,” Kilday said. “They have found a pretty isolated area that is out of the wind and rain.”

Chandra Wright, director of workplace giving for the local United Way, led the team working the Alabama side. The first stop was to work the Phenix City riverwalk from the amphitheater to the 14th Street pedestrian bridge. It was well before 7 a.m. and there were no people sleeping on benches.

“I am a little surprised,” Wright said. “I thought we would see some people down here. But when it gets cold, many of the Phenix City homeless go to Columbus, where the services are. That is where you can find a warm place to stay or a hot meal.”

Haley Raney, the resident services coordinator for the Phenix City Housing Authority, participated in the count for the first time. She agreed with Wright’s assessment.

“A lot of the resources, specifically for homeless, not just low-income families, are on the Columbus side,” she said. “If you become homeless and lose all of your resources, you need a place to sleep and food, you are probably going to wander over to Columbus. They might come back over here during the day, but if it gets cold at night, they will go over there.”

The overnight low was in the mid to low 40s, still considerably warmer than the sub-freezing temperatures when the last count was conducted in January 2016. Last year, volunteers went to two or three locations on the Alabama side. This year, more than a dozen locations were targeted. By 10 a.m. with the first wave of the survey completed, just three homeless men were counted in Phenix City, Wright said.

“I think this was a success,” Wright said. “We went to more places and there are still more places that need to be visited. We will be sharing those locations with a group that will be going out later in the day.”

The effort was not limited to the river. Volunteers, with the assistance of law enforcement, went to encampments around the city, including a wooded area on U.S. 280 behind the Taco Bell.

“Someone was there, but they were gone by the time we got there,” Wright said.

The effort started Tuesday night with a count of the local homeless shelters.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 10:33 AM with the headline "Volunteers search Phenix City riverbank in annual homeless count."