It was 46 degrees before dawn when a group of volunteers — armed with printed maps, clipboards and pens — climbed into washes and walked down alleys just north of downtown Tucson.
Their goal: to speak with as many people as possible as part of the Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness’ (TPCH) annual Point-in-Time Count.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities to conduct the annual count, which is tied to eligibility for federal funding for homeless services.
We tagged along with a group of about 15 volunteers who gathered outside a Circle K on Grant Road, carrying $10 gift cards and resource guides — small tools meant to help break the ice with people living on the street.
Last year, TPCH volunteers counted 2,218 unhoused individuals. That figure represents a 5.5% increase from the previous year. And while it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, there was a 18% spike in homelessness recorded nationwide in 2024. 1
Some homeless advocates believe the true number of people living on the streets is still higher, noting that a single-day count covering all of Tucson is difficult, even with hundreds of volunteers.
Before dawn, volunteers reviewed maps of nearby neighborhoods, identifying places where unhoused individuals were likely to be found. (Photo by Joe Ferguson)
Anza Park, just off Stone Avenue, was largely empty when a group of four volunteers arrived. One man slept under a tree, wrapped in a heavy blanket.
The volunteers chose to let him sleep rather than wake him for the roughly 15-question survey, opting instead to return after canvassing the rest of the neighborhood — weaving through alleys and behind businesses in search of others willing to participate.
The survey asks how long someone has been unhoused, whether they drink alcohol or use drugs, and basic demographic information, all of which is entered into a phone-based app.
Roughly 90 minutes later, they returned to talk to the man in the sleeping bag, offering the last of their gift cards.
As dawn broke, more people began filtering into the park to use the restroom. Some emerged from nearby alleys, while others may have arrived after leaving the Salvation Army Hospitality House just a block away on Main Avenue.
Three unhoused individuals in Anza Park Wednesday morning. (Photo by Joe Ferguson)
Tucson Councilwoman Miranda Schubert, working alongside one of her staffers, counted 18 people living on the street over roughly four hours. The reception was largely positive — especially as word spread that the group was handing out $10 McDonald’s gift cards.
This was Schubert’s second consecutive Point in Time Count, though she has worked with unhoused people in the community for years. She said the brief interviews help chip away at harmful stereotypes surrounding homelessness.
“There's a lot of demonization of people who are suffering from addiction and homelessness and mental health issues, but everybody that I've talked to (today) has been kind and patient and accommodating, and we're asking some pretty intrusive questions,” Schubert said.
While she acknowledges the count is imperfect, Schubert said her commitment to addressing homelessness isn’t dependent on whether the numbers rise or fall.
”I came into this work understanding that this is something that needs to be urgently addressed, and I don't really see that opinion changing,” Schubert said. “But I think more than anything else, I want people to see unhoused people as humans and that they don't need to be saints in order to deserve dignity and access to their bread and roses.”
Last year’s count of 2,218 unhoused individuals in Tucson was just shy of the all-time record of 2,227 set in 2022.
On the east side, members of Councilman Paul Cunningham’s Ward 2 office spent the morning conducting similar outreach in parks, washes and alleys behind businesses.
Cunningham, a former probation officer with a master’s degree in social work, said outreach to the unhoused community is a daily priority for his office. He works closely with nonprofits to connect people with housing, jobs — or, in some cases, bus tickets to reunite them with family out of state.
The annual Point in Time Count, organized each January by TPCH, provides a useful benchmark for understanding the scope of homelessness, Cunningham said — though he acknowledged its limitations.
“It is a tough nut to crack,” Cunningham said. “But you get to see people where they are at and learn that everyone has different circumstances.”
Final results from this year’s TPCH Point in Time Count are expected in the coming months.
Project FAFO: Pima County Attorney Laura Conover has joined a coalition of nine progressive local prosecutors weighing charges against federal agents, per the New York Times. The group calls itself Fight Against Federal Overreach or FAFO, and cites recent cases, including the killing of Renée Good in Minneapolis, where federal authorities declined to investigate and restricted local prosecutors’ access to evidence. Members say they’ll back one another with mutual aid if prosecutions move forward.
“Its acronym, F.A.F.O., references a slang term for negative consequences,” the Times helpfully explains.
ICE picks up pace: Conover said she’s seeing evidence of increased ICE activity across Pima County, and told residents to report improper conduct on her office’s website, the Republic’s Sarah Lapidus reports. Immigration attorney Luis Campos said he’s fielding a surge of calls about Venezuelans being detained, despite a relatively small Venezuelan population in the Old Pueblo.
Checking in: The City of Tucson’s pilot program that was set up to help unsheltered women has now been open 100 days, per a news release from the city. STAR Village has helped out 72 women so far, including nine women who moved on to permanent housing.
Six-figure campaign: The political action committee supporting the RTA Next campaign has raised more than $645,000, writes Tucson Sentinel’s Jim Nintzel. Connect Pima PAC reported raising the six-figure sum as of Dec. 31, but had spent only $224,000 on the campaign so far. An opposition campaign, Tucson Deserves Better, said they didn’t expect to raise $10,000.
We would love to raise $645,000 for our campaign to bring more local news to the Old Pueblo. But your $12 would be good, too.
Another layer of hell: At least one detainee in Pinal County’s Florence Detention Center contracted measles, and Homeland Security said the immigration detention facility is “quarantining all individuals suspected of making contact with the infected,” the Republic’s Stephanie Innes reports. Arizona has seen 25 confirmed measles cases so far this year.
We weren’t expecting the Tucson Socialist Rifle Association to adopt a park, but we love that their civic activism includes cleaning up a city park.
Don’t ever change, Tucson.
1 We don’t have a 2024 vs 2025 comparison from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which compiles the national numbers.