Counting the Homeless: One FGCU student explains why she’s taking part in Lee County’s PIT count

How many homeless people live in Lee County? Right now, the Lee County Homeless Coalition is spearheading a headcount to find out.

It’s part of a nationwide mandate and it happens during the last ten days of January every year. WINK News Investigative Reporter Celine McArthur shows you how it’s done in Lee County, where the information goes, and what happens with that data

The mission of the PIT count, or point in time count, is to track down all the homeless people – in and out of shelters – to find out how serious the problems are right now and why.

The feds then use that data to determine how much federal money local programs can get moving forward. The pit count is a significant undertaking that requires a lot of volunteers, including students at Florida Gulf Coast University.

24-year-old Crystal Jean is a first-year student in the social work program at FGCU. She says she knew as a kid she wanted to be a social worker.

MORE: Click here for coverage in The Working Homeless series

“I had a social worker as a child, and she really did impact me greatly as a kid. And I didn’t realize that she was a social worker. But I knew I wanted to do what she did. So, I kind of just did some research and put two and two together,” says Jean.

The issue of homelessness is also personal. She recently discovered her father had become homeless.

“I was shocked. I was very shocked,” says Jean. “I didn’t know… you couldn’t tell.” She tells us he was homeless in a different part of Florida, and, “he came here to our family, and we didn’t realize all the situation that was going on at the time.”

But she knew what needed to happen next.

“They’re normal people who need help and need love and need services,” says Jean.

Professor Tom Felke says the homeless situation in Southwest Florida is getting worse.

“I think the other thing that concerns me is I’m worried about what the public reaction to visible homelessness is going to look like,” says Felke. “People generally don’t want to see things that make them uncomfortable. I mean, that makes sense. But in this case, this is not something you can just push back into the shadows. This is something that actually needs to be addressed.”

That has Jean wondering.

“I think that our public officers are probably not doing enough,” says Jean. “If someone is a convicted felon, for example, what are we doing to provide resources for these people to be reintegrated in society? And for them to have the appropriate literacy skills? To have a job or to have housing services?”

She hit the streets as a volunteer in the Lee County annual PIT count to learn more. On this morning, there aren’t many homeless in her designated area, which surrounds the Downtown Fort Myers public library.

“I’m a little sad about it. I really am, because I really want to, you know, speak to some people and you know, get to know their story,” says Jean.

We caught up with Fort Myers police officer Ryan Beiner, who’s on the Homeless Outreach Team to find out why that might be.

“It depends on the weather. It depends on the day,” says Officer Beiner. “People have been moving around lately a lot, going to new places, due to enforcement measures.”

Jean did get to spend some time with Officer Beiner to get a snapshot of how he works with the homeless.

“Going back into the places where some of these individuals sleep… it’s hard not to cry about it because it’s just… I didn’t know that that was the type of conditions that some of these individuals actually have, like, these are their everyday lives,

While brief, this was a career experience she won’t soon forget.

“He’s actually been in the field, what I’m learning about, he’s done it for years. And just seeing that we have officers that are actually trying to help our communities,” says Jean. “He’s a social worker in disguise as an officer.”

The Lee Count PIT count lasts for three days, and the results won’t be available until at least April.

When we get out hands on the data, we will share it on-air, and right here on winknews.com.

You too can weigh in on this conversation. Email celine.mcarthur@winknews.com.