The city of Amarillo conducted its annual Point in Time (PIT) count on Friday to get a 24-hour snapshot of the city’s homeless population. Volunteers from across the city, including a contingent from Amarillo College, worked with community development to get meaningful information and build relationships with those experiencing homelessness.
Jason Riddlespurger, director of community development for Amarillo, spoke about the importance of gathering good data that affects funding and strategies for homelessness.
Riddlespurger said that, unfortunately, he is seeing growth areas spreading throughout the city, much of it fueled by feeling safer than being in higher concentrated populations.
“This has been surprising for me over the past three to four years; the homeless population is spreading out more as they grow,” Riddlespurger said. “People are getting increasingly where they do not want to be in a crowd or growing encampment. They are growing. They want to be out where they feel safe, so they are finding their little niche somewhere throughout the city where they do feel safe. Many folks in those areas know them and try to take care of them.”