Organizers of South Dakota’s annual point-in-time count for the state’s unsheltered homeless population have cancelled the effort this year due to COVID-19
Sara Hornick, Rapid City-area coordinator of homeless services for Volunteers of America, blames a shortage of volunteers, a lack of personal protective equipment, and concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
Hornick says the vulnerable homeless population is quite large, but the federal Dept of Housing and Urban Development decided against the count.
The January 2020 count showed Rapid City had 353 total homeless with 161 sheltered and 192 unsheltered.