8-county Region 4 survey: 182 homeless; most under 24

But that annual count — conducted each winter — does not paint a true picture of the size of the local homeless population, organizers say.

On Jan. 29, volunteers and city employees fanned out across Tippecanoe and surrounding counties to survey the homeless. The survey is a requirement for communities to receive federal homeless assistance funding.

Overall, 182 homeless people were identified in the 2014 count in Region 4, which comprises Tippecanoe and seven other counties. That's down from 220 in 2013.

But homeless service providers caution the public not to take that data at face value. Given its limits, the data do not truly reflect year-to-year changes in the numbers of homeless.