The Spokane County Annual Point-in-Time Count: A Study in Regional Collaboration

For the third year in a row, Eastern Washington University professor, Matthew Anderson (and co-chair of Spokane County's Continuum of Care Board), has played in key role in the successful completion of Spokane County’s annual Point-in-Time Count (PiT). This census of people experiencing homelessness is part of a nationwide initiative mandated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Anderson’s work has created many opportunities for Eastern Washington University students in both the Bachelor of Arts in Urban & Regional Planning and the Master of Urban & Regional Planning to gain firsthand experience in understanding the needs of the region’s most vulnerable residents. Anderson believes such knowledge helps students become better planners.

The data collected from the PiT are used to guide resource allocations and shape policy. Data from the 2025 Point-in-Time Count identified 1,806 unhoused people living in shelters or on their own. This number is a welcome drop from the 2023 high of over 2,300. Other findings shake up traditional wisdom about the unhoused. About 80% of those counted in the census are locals with ties to the region that predate their current unhoused condition. Narratives about hyper-transitory unhoused individuals travelling from city to city are simply not true in Spokane.

Coauthored by a multidisciplinary team spanning three universities (Eastern Washington University, Washington State University, and Whitworth University) and a private consulting firm (Intellitect), the report on the 2025 Point-in-Time Count can be found here: https://cdn.ewu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025-point-in-time-count-report-the-broader-context.pdf. Among the ten report authors are two EWU MURP students: Florence Osei and Kenneth Moore.