Tarrant County Counting Homeless

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - The Tarrant County Homeless Coalition combed the streets of overnight to count the homeless living in Fort Worth, Arlington and many of the surrounding cities.

The biannual Homeless Count took place Thursday night across Tarrant and Parker Counties.  The census and survey is part of a U.S. Housing and Urban Development program to allocate money to work with and care for the homeless in major metropolitan areas across the nation.

Each person or family surveyed is asked information on how long they have been homeless, and what kind of resources they use or would utilize if available.

In addition to unsheltered homeless sleeping in tent cities or under overpasses, people staying in one of Fort Worth's shelters were also counted Thursday.

Presbyterian Night Shelter Executive Director Toby Owen said the 2009 count showed there were over 2,000 homeless people living in the Tarrant County area. Owen says based on his experience in working with the homeless over the past few years he believes this year's count numbers will show an increase in families and veterans.