 The annual homeless point in time count took place across the entire state of Minnesota today. Sarah Winkelman was at the Brainerd Salvation Army to hear about the purpose of the survey. Did you sleep outside or were you temporarily staying with family or friends or staying in your car in an abandoned building last night? That's the first question on the anonymous survey to better understand homelessness in the region. It takes the whole community Lutheran social service teams up with local organizations and other volunteers to help get an accurate count of people in the community who are experiencing homelessness. Does it tell some what homeless looks like here approximately how many people are homeless and what are some of the contributing factors to their homelessness? Getting this data in the metro area is often easier than in rural towns who need it most. We don't have in you know the middle of winter in January to you know a long line of people hanging out by a soup kitchen in a metro area. Here what we have is people hiding out living with friends or family temporarily during the cold season trying to hide from landlords so everyone doesn't get evicted. Even getting people to come in to fill out the survey can be difficult in the Brainerd Lakes region. I'm here people are in fish houses they're in campers they're in the woods they're places that we can easily see. With the definition of homelessness even causing confusion for those who double up. People who sleep in people's sofas they go from house to house they might you know have a place for two or three weeks but in the long term do they have a home. For those that come to fill out the survey the Salvation Army also has everything from winter coats socks and even hand warmers for people to take with them to stay warm. Incentives like these help bring more people in which in turn brings more dollars. This has a really big impact in our and the funding that we get as a community not just the Salvation Army but all the other organizations. It's a day full of questions and answers that all lead to one common goal. It really helps us understand where we're at and and how we're coming together as a community to help to end homelessness. Reporting in Brainerd Sarah Winkleman Lakeland News. The 2017 data suggested there were nearly 200 unsheltered households in central Minnesota. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.