Jan. 23—TUPELO — John Brown of Tupelo has been homeless for three or four years. He sleeps under a bridge in the Barnes Crossing area and has been with two other people for about a week.
“I’m praying I get some assistance,” he said.
Brown said he’s actively tried getting help from organizations in town but had issues getting housing. Last week, during the worst of the cold, Brown said he leaned on the tattoo artists at Lucky 7, who got him a hotel room to escape the bitter ice storm.
Brown is one of the dozen or so unsheltered individuals currently living in the city. At the beginning of each year, the Mississippi Balance of State Continuum of Care, alongside other volunteers and Mississippi United to End Homelessness, spend a day cataloging the homeless population within the city and the 71 counties in the continuum of care services as part of Tuesday’s statewide point-in-time (PIT) count.
“I think it is going well,” MUTEH Outreach Coordinator Marrie Kate Grayson said as a light rain pattered against the concrete. “We are seeing a lot of familiar faces …, but that is what you want to see.”
This is Grayson’s second year to take part the PIT count, but this year, she is coordinating the local effort. The count is vitally important to the organization and all nonprofits that assist homeless populations throughout the city and state. An accurate census of the community gauges the efficacy of programs and helps in federal funding sources.
“I feel like there should be something more we could do,” Grayson said, adding that the chronically homeless individuals in the community have a lot of boundaries to overcome.
While official numbers from the count are not due to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development until March, Tupelo Homeless Task Force Chair and former CoC Director Hannah Maharrey said advocates will have an estimated result by Friday.
Julie Seawright, an American Sign Language Interpreter, helped with this year’s count as a volunteer.
“We are really just here to help out with the count and affect the (homeless) population in a positive way,” she said from inside All Saints Episcopal Church, which offers a daily free breakfast program, Saint’s Brew. This was her first time volunteering for the PIT count.
Javontae Davion Smith, 31, of Tupelo, spent his morning eating at Saint’s Brew. He said he’s been homeless for about two years, and he is hoping for help, noting that his goal is to find employment, housing and friendship. He said lack of participation and not listening to others is what led him to housing insecurity.
To Smith, being without housing or a safety net has led him to feel as if no one sees him.
“They don’t talk to me,” he said. “Everybody is on autopilot.”
Signup bonus from
