COMMISSIONERS COURT
The 2026 Hays County Point In Time count, which measures the population experiencing homelessness, was presented to the Hays County Commissioners Court on April 14 by Nancy Heintz, board member of the Homeless Coalition for Hays County.
The PIT Count is a nationwide effort mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that collects data for a one-day snapshot of homelessness. This census plays an important role in the planning of future programs and the allocation of resources for individuals experiencing homelessness in Hays County.
For this year’s count, 70 volunteers traveled throughout the county on three-hour shifts on January 22. These volunteers included members of the Texas Homeless Network (THN), the Hays County Health Department and local agencies as well as people from throughout Hays County.
Data from the count is divided into two categories, based on where the volunteers gathered data from the people who are counted. Unsheltered locations are areas such as streets, outdoor encampments, or other environments “not intended for human habitation.” Sheltered locations are places “intended for temporary habitation,” such as emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or other facilities that provide short-term housing support.
Heintz said that in 2026, the survey counted 57 sheltered and 94 unsheltered people. In 2025, there were 132 sheltered and 55 unsheltered people.
The 2025 survey was conducted on a cold weather night, which is reflected in the higher numbers of sheltered people last year, Heintz said. “We kind of flipped numbers. In 2025 we had less unsheltered and more sheltered.”
In the 2026 count, adults between the ages of 25-64 made up the majority of the Hays County homeless population with most of these individu- als experiencing unsheltered homelessness, according to Heintz. Adults ages 25-34 were the largest group in this category, with 25 unsheltered and 8 sheltered. Adults ages 35-44 were 20 unsheltered and 7 sheltered. Ages 45-54 were 17 unsheltered and 10 sheltered, ages 55-64, 24 unsheltered and 2 sheltered and 65-older, 3 unsheltered and 2 sheltered.
The under-18 category was the only category in which the percentage of homeless in the survey were mostly sheltered, with 24 of the total of 26 people categorized as sheltered. Adults 18-25 were 3 unsheltered and 4 sheltered.
Men represented the majority of the known homeless population (79%), particularly among those that are unsheltered (50 men to 16 women), though over half of the responses lack gender data, according to the presentation.
“Please be reminded that this is self declaration,” Heintz said. “How they answer the question is the way the answer goes in. They don’t show any verification of anything. There’s nothing that shows documentation, we rely on them to answer to the best of their knowledge.”
Most of the respondents were Hispanic (27 unsheltered and 2 sheltered) and White (24 unsheltered and 3 sheltered).
Volunteers had more difficulty finding homeless people for this year’s count. The presence of ICE agents in Hays County may have had an impact, Heintz said. “We felt like people were laying low for whatever reason. So it was harder to find people. … We feel like they were a little reluctant to speak just because of what was going on in the area.”
Of the 151 homeless individuals in the count, 144 were in San Marcos, 6 were in Kyle and 1 was in Buda, with no people documented as experiencing homelessness in Wimberley.
Judge Ruben Becerra said that the concentration of people along the I-35 corridor is easier to survey than the remote parts of the county.
“The difficulty in the rural part of the western county is it’s harder to get into all the nooks and crannies, so it would be harder to count,” he said.
The PIT count indicated a decline in the data for total homelessness from 2025, but an increase in unsheltered individuals, which suggests a “growing system strain and barriers to accessing shelter, indicating a shift toward more acute and visible forms of homelessness,” according to Heintz.
Following the presentation of the PIT Count, Lisa Young, executive director of the Hays County Food Bank, presented the findings of the 2025 McKinney-Vento Report, which provides data submitted by homeless students under the age of 21.
The information in this report is collected at the beginning of the school year.
“You may recall a question that will ask, ‘Are you living in a home that you own or that you are the leaseholder of? Are you living with a family? Are you living in a shelter? What they’re gathering there is data for the McKinney Vento report,” Young said.
“Every school district is federally mandated to do this, and all the ones in the county have shared their data with us,” she said.
McKinney-Vento data defines homelessness as “individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.” This category includes children living in shelters, motels, hotels, trailer parks, camping grounds and places “not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.”
The MV data for Hays County indicated more homelessness in Wimberley and Dripping Springs than the PIT Count, reporting 35 students in Dripping Springs, 11 in Wimberley and 105 in SMCISD experiencing homelessness.
“San Marcos numbers for children are often higher because the Women’s Center is here,” according to Young.
At the conclusion of their presentation, Heintz and Young asked the court to help them find grants and funding for their organizations.
“I think the county needs to look and analyze how much it spends per capita on human services compared to other counties in Texas, and to carve this out so that we have something that’s predictable and sustainable,” Young said. ”We would like to have a more consistent plan to apply for these federal funds that we would need your assistance to apply for.”
Commissioner Michelle Cohen, Pct. 2, agreed that the court should work to support these groups. “I think it’s an area where I think us as a county need to be more accountable and find avenues of funding.”
“I do think that our community needs to step up for one another,” said Commissioner Morgan Hammer, Pct. 3. “I appreciate what y’all have done and what you guys continue to do. Thank you so much.”
