Volunteers and homeless service organizations were out in force Tuesday evening to count the homeless in Travis County.

Organizer Rick Rivera of ECHO, the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, said the count is a way to assess the needs of those who live on the streets and to secure federal funding for homeless services.

"It's very important for us to go ahead and have a healthy continuum to provide for all those who have a need. We're looking for people who are in camps, living in cars, people who are kinda just tucked here and there, and they’re trying to get a good night’s sleep," said Rivera.

The headcount has become an annual event. It also serves as a chance to conduct surveys to garner information about individuals and to better understand their needs and reasons for being homeless.

Volunteer organizer Dawn Perkins conducts some of the surveys.

"It's so important that we're able to know how many homeless people are out there, to dispel a lot of those stereotypes about homeless people - the demographics, the situations and the factors involved, which is why the survey is really important," said Perkins.

With the cooperation of local shelters, law enforcement and the community at large, the task of getting an accurate count is still a difficult one.

Rivera said they still can't account for those parts of the population who are not on the street, but still rely on homeless services.

"We're trying to figure out ways around that, to accurately account for that and to at least report locally what the true scope of homelessness is. Not just those who are out in the streets, but those who are in that situation," said Rivera.

Those living on the streets like Jerami Dohlstein say seeing the volunteers on the streets is a good sign.

"It keeps us to where we don't have to lose hope. There's more people out here that just don't care anymore," said Dohlstein.

The count is scheduled in the winter when the homeless are more likely to stay in shelters, making it easier to get an accurate count in centralized locations. Additionally, doing the count in one evening as opposed to over a longer period of time helps ensure that volunteers don't double count anyone.

In 2009, the number of homeless counted was 1,223. Organizers say they expect this year’s count to be very close to last year’s.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development can grant anywhere between $2 - $4 million for homeless services in our area. They use the count as one measure for the funding.