Hundreds of volunteers are set to fan out across San Diego County early Thursday morning to conduct a federally required, one-night "snapshot" of the region's homeless population. The 2024 WeAllCount Point-in-Time Count, run by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, is set to begin at 4 a.m. Thursday at dozens of sites throughout the county, to find an accurate accounting of the number of people experiencing homelessness in the region. The data is used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine how to distribute federal homeless relief funding. In 2023, the count found 10,264 individuals experiencing homelessness across the region -- an increase of 14% over the previous year. That number included 5,171 unsheltered San Diegans with 5,093 individuals in shelters and transitional housing. The challenge of finding every unsheltered person in a car, encampment or under a bridge is impossible -- but even with people likely missed in the annual counts, the number of people in San Diego County falling into homelessness continues to outpace those exiting into housing, RTFH leaders said. FULL STORY: https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/homeless-point-in-time-count-begins-thursday/509-e5b770df-a79c-418c-816b-4e71c5fa500d