A volunteer conducts a survey with a homeless individual staying inside a tent at an encampment in Pottstown as part of Montgomery County’s 2023 Point-in-Time Count. (Rachel Ravina – MediaNews Group)
Volunteers took to the streets of boroughs and townships Thursday evening in search of the area’s most vulnerable, the unhoused population of Montgomery County.
Their efforts were part of the county’s annual Point-in-Time Count, an initiative designed to catch a glimpse of the local homeless population on a given night in January.
“I think last night we had a group of volunteers that are committed to our work to really see those who currently are experiencing homelessness. Right out of the gates … to see the diversity of people there warmed my heart in showing that people could be anywhere right in the world that evening, but they chose to be there to help us,” said county Commissioners’ Chairwoman Jamila Winder.
Around 50 volunteers traversed areas in and around Abington, Ardmore, Cheltenham, Lansdale, Lower Merion, Norristown, Pennsburg, Pottstown, Souderton, and Willow Grove to carry out the annual count mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“We had great engagement and partnerships with our street outreach teams, including our veteran street outreach team and youth street outreach teams, as well as our local police departments, who were really wonderfully supportive of this effort and collaborative,” said Montgomery County Office of Housing and Community Development Administrator Kayleigh Silver.
Rates of homelessness have been on the rise in recent years in Pennsylvania’s second-wealthiest county, with figures climbing from 357 people in 2023 to 425 people in 2024.
Last year, 534 individuals were counted as homeless, according to the Norristown Hospitality Center. Silver clarified Friday that it’s too soon to tell what the 2026 count will reveal. The night’s data will serve as “one part of the picture” when it comes to homelessness in Montgomery County, she said.
Participants were tasked with gathering answers to geographic and demographic-based questions for participants, including age, disability, and veteran status, according to Silver, who often stressed the federal survey was voluntary.
“I think it helps really plan our efforts to ensure that we’re trying to tackle that and prioritize our resources for the most vulnerable,” Silver said.
Others face difficulties finding access to housing, in addition to those living outside.
“We know that there are many more people who are couch surfing or unstably housed,” Silver said.
Along with people experiencing mental health and substance abuse issues, Montgomery County officials have long attributed economic reasons for the uptick in homelessness locally.
The area’s lack of affordable housing stock, escalating cost of living, zoning issues, as well as prior impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and from the remnants of Hurricane Ida have been cited time and again.
“We are all one crisis away from potentially being in a position where we can’t afford to pay for where we live,” Winder said.
Winder and Silver each recalled encounters from Thursday night that stuck with them. Two men who’d “fallen on hard times” and ended up without a place to call home.
“He was a contractor. Unfortunately, lost his job, had to sell his house in western Montco, and has since been living in his truck,” Winder said.
Silver met a man who’d been “renting a room for years” and is now “struggling to find a place he can afford” after his apartment building was sold.
Montgomery County has gone years without an operational brick-and-mortar homeless shelter since the closure of the Coordinated Homeless Outreach Center in Norristown in June 2022. Officials previously earmarked $10 million in the 2025-29 capital improvement program fund for a homeless shelter to invest in infrastructure solutions, with targeted projects across the region.
A 20-bed supportive short-term housing facility is slated to open in early 2026 in Lansdale. County officials also executed a lease for up to 120 beds at a Pottstown hotel and received zoning relief for a 50-bed facility in Norristown.
Winder underscored the need to “shift the narrative” that “not everyone that finds themselves unhoused has some type of mental health or addiction challenge.”
“We know that that can land people on the streets, and we did meet some of those individuals,” Winder said. “But there’s also these stories that are emerging that remind us that we do have an affordability crisis … people that were barely able to make ends meet to pay for the room that they called home.”
‘Major’ weekend storm watched
Thursday evening’s forecast reported a high of 45 degrees and a low of 22 degrees, somewhat more temperate than what the area has experienced in recent weeks. The 2025 Point-in-Time Count had brutal conditions, which Silver previously described as the “coldest Point-in-Time count in my memory.”
“It was truly one of the coldest nights of the year. It warmed up in advance of the weather event that we’re going to have this weekend,” Winder said. “So what I would say is I think that people were going to the Code Blue shelters, but I saw more people this year versus last year. We had to really go looking for people because of how cold it was.”
A Code Blue emergency weather declaration was extended through Wednesday, Jan. 28. Montgomery County operates nine Code Blue shelters, according to Health and Human Services Director Patricia McKernan, who expressed concern for vulnerable individuals in the area. Those in need of assistance during inclement weather should call the Your Way Home call center at 610-278-3522 for more information.
When encountering individuals on Thursday evening, Silver noted they were “aware of our Code Blue facilities and shelters and emergency resources and had plans to go there.”
The increased outreach and messaging surrounding temporary shelter were paramount for Silver and other partners when coordinating “crisis and preparedness planning” ahead of the approaching storm.
Silver has been in talks with shelter representatives to ensure they’re adequately staffed and corresponding with street outreach team members concerning “outreach effort and safety planning and crisis efforts.” Contingency plans are also in place with hoteling resources.
“There is a big concern over the storm this weekend, but we are working as a system, and as a partnership, and as a team … to really ensure that we are providing crisis intervention, safety and support for those who are outside,” Silver said.
