Wyoming and other cold-weather states with smaller populations are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to federal funding for homelessness. 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires the annual homeless point-in-time count be conducted in January. The idea is that more homeless people will seek refuge from the winter weather at homeless shelters — which is all well and good if there is a homeless shelter available, but for most of Wyoming there isn’t one within 100 miles. 

This means the homeless count does not reveal an accurate depiction of Wyoming’s homeless population, according to Brenda Lyttle, Homeless Services Coordinator and Senior Administrator for the Wyoming Department of Family Services. And that means the state is not receiving its share of federal funding for homeless assistance programs. 

Natrona County reported 355 homeless residents and Laramie County reported 171 for this year. Although their populations are larger than the other Wyoming counties, they are not that much larger than Campbell County, which reported 62 and Sweetwater County, which reported six. 

Meanwhile, Park County reported eight homeless people. Last year’s count showed zero homeless residents in Park County — and we weren’t alone in having nobody counted. Many counties failed to have a single homeless person accounted for. 

Of course, some parts of Wyoming have more homeless people than others, but the overall population gap is not that wide. Lyttle credited the variations as being due to a more organized approach in those two counties because of increased homeless services.

Then there’s the issue of people not wanting to be counted as homeless, whether it is out of embarrassment or out of mistrust of government interactions. 

Basically, Wyoming is caught in a perpetual cycle of skewed homeless counts because we can’t get help for our homeless until we count that they are here, and we can’t accurately count the homeless without increased services. 

It might seem unlikely that homeless people live in Wyoming year-round — but consider how many times food cans and sleeping bags are found in caves or how many vehicles are seen with what appears to be everything they own inside. They’ve also been reported to be living in some unexpected locations such as abandoned mines and under bridges. 

When someone is found to be homeless in Wyoming, there is nowhere for them to go, so they get sent away and it’s often out of the state.

This is where the problem becomes more than a humanitarian issue. Not all homeless people are unemployed. How are they expected to keep their jobs and get back on their feet if their only option for survival is to be sent away?

Many Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, so homelessness is just one streak of bad luck away. It’s up to us, as a state, to care for our own since current HUD requirements are not designed with our best interests in mind. 

Fortunately, much like our homeless residents living in unexpected places, the Wyoming Department of Family Services is thinking outside the box and being resourceful. Plans are in place for a second homeless count to take place in the summer of 2016 with increased training for each community’s team of volunteers so that we can get a more accurate picture of what our state’s homeless population really looks like.

Maybe it will work, and maybe Wyoming will receive its fair share of federal funds to help our neighbors in need. In the meantime, we can only hope.