OKLAHOMA CITY – On the eve of a potentially major winter storm event, volunteers from OKC’s Key to Home Partnership are readying for the annual Point-In-Time count aimed at counting the number of unhoused residents that are sleeping outdoors or in shelters across the city.
Each January, volunteer teams take to the streets in the early hours of the morning in an attempt to reach unhoused city residents where they are – in encampments, isolated outdoor spaces, or overnight shelters – to help determine the need for homeless services for the coming year.
This year’s count is taking place before sunrise on the morning of Friday, January 23rd.
The findings are published by the City of OKC each spring as the Point-In-Time – or PIT – count and submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to inform the distribution of funds for housing and homeless outreach in Oklahoma City.
But this year, the volunteer effort carries an additional weight as the city is under an Extreme Cold Warning and the threat of a significant snow and ice storm through the weekend, motivating volunteers to encourage the unhoused residents they meet during the count to seek shelter indoors.
“Because it will be so cold, I’m hopeful that we don’t find a ton of people who are unsheltered,” Homeless Alliance CEO Meghan Mueller told Free Press Thursday morning.
The Homeless Alliance operates the city’s largest nighttime winter shelter a 501 N. Indiana Ave., with more than 300 beds, bathrooms, food rations, and kennels available to anyone seeking overnight shelter every night from November through March.
But in addition to overseeing the stocking and preparation of that shelter before the storm, Mueller is also serving as a volunteer for the Point-In-Time count, giving her a chance to meet unhoused residents personally and to direct them to the night shelter before the snow begins to fall.
“The Point-In-Time happening as this storm rolls in gives us a unique opportunity to connect with those people who are still staying outside and to make sure that they’re aware about the weather that’s coming in,” she said. “But I’m hoping most people already know about their indoor options and are already accessing the winter shelter capacity that’s available.”
With so many ready to seek indoor shelter in advance of the winter weather, there’s some understanding that this year’s PIT count could result in an artificially low number for unhoused residents that might more regularly be sleeping in street encampments.
Mueller explained that that’s why it’s important to know that the Point-In-Time is a “snapshot,” rather than a more sweeping or encompassing survey.
“The PIT is just one of the data sources that we use when we’re trying to get a holistic view of the population,” she said. “As service providers at the Homeless Alliance, we collect data all day, every day, and often, that daily data is actually more useful when we’re thinking about really digging in and trying to understand what’s going on. So this count is an important tool, but it’s not the only tool.”
The PIT also includes numbers of city residents in overnight shelters, and Mueller said that staff and volunteers will be on hand to count at the night shelter as well, even as they expect to see numbers swell far beyond the 300 beds in the building.
“It’s a 300 bed facility, but we don’t turn anyone away in the cold,” she said. “So we have additional mats and we can flex that capacity to accommodate as many people as we need.”
Brett Fieldcamp is the owner and Editor in Chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly two decades and served as Arts & Entertainment Editor before purchasing the company from founder Brett Dickerson in 2026.
He is also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
