Aurora is looking for volunteers for its 2024 point-in-time count, the annual survey of homeless people, both “sheltered” and “unsheltered,” in the city on a given day.

Next year’s count will happen from 6 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

The “unsheltered” homeless category refers to people who sleep in public spaces, such as parks or under bridges, as well as in cars.

Volunteers play a role in the count, which is part of a national effort to understand the extent of the country’s homeless crisis, by covering a particular area of the city in a group.

Along with making a count, volunteers will also survey homeless people about their circumstances and needs.

For those interested in volunteering, the city will hold two informational meetings at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 and noon on Dec. 6.

The PIT count from 2023, taken on Jan. 30, showed a total of 572 homeless people in Aurora, 409 of whom were “sheltered” — meaning in emergency shelters, transitional housing or safe haven programs — and 163 of whom were “unsheltered.”

By comparison, Denver saw the biggest increase in the number of homeless people — 5,818 as of January, up from 4,794 last year. Meanwhile, El Paso County saw a 17 percent drop in its homeless population — from a high of 1,562 in 2019 to 1,302 in January.

The 2023 count also collected various data from the survey that volunteers administered, including how many people became homeless for the first time or chronically homeless, the types of barriers to housing that people faced, data on race and other characteristics.

According to their count, two in five people surveyed were first-time homeless and one in four were chronically homeless.

Native Americans or Alaska Natives are almost five times overrepresented in homelessness relative to their makeup of the general population, the 2023 count also showed.

Black people were over two times overrepresented, according to the count.

Aurora offers between 130 and 150 shelter beds available on any given night, the city’s website said. The city is up to 8,500 affordable housing units short.

The City Council has been discussing staff recommendations to fund homeless services next year. The recommendations include significant funding cuts to these services due to funding levels decreasing this year, specifically from lower marijuana tax revenue, and expiring COVID dollars.

The recommendations appear to reflect a shift in the city’s priorities, as some of the funding would instead go to behavioral and recovery programs, as well as domestic violence services.

The city’s homelessness division has about $2 million available and reviewed 25 applications from nonprofit and faith-based organizations and public agencies, whose funding requests added up to more than $5 million.

Some Aurora’s councilmembers want to maintain flat funding for organizations going into 2024, while others prefer cutting those allocations.