A survey of the area's homeless is underway in the Hill City.
It's an annual count, required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The cold/snowy weather complicated Thursday's count.
Organizers typically plan the count during the cold months, because the cold forces people living on the streets to find someplace indoors to warm up, making the count easier.
But when when the schools are closed because of snow, so are many of those places the homeless would seek out, like a soup kitchen. And that made the count much more difficult for organizers.
"Can you tell me please where you slept last night?" asked Miriam's House director and an organizer of the homeless count, Mary Alex.
It's a simple enough question, but the answer for Omisha Matthews, 28, is anything but simple.
"There are so many people out there without right now, that would just die for the chance that I'm given right now," said Omisha.
Omisha is one of many who will answer questions as part of a survey to be counted among Lynchburg's homeless population.
"I just need to make changes and I think now is the time. It's been too long and I have to gain my independence. I can no longer sit on the curb and feel like a failure. I need to rise above," said Omisha of her new found drive to change her life.
"There's always an element of homelessness that goes under the radar, if you will. There are some people who don't want to come into programs," explained Alex.
Omisha made the choice to get help four months ago, after years of drugs, bad relationships and a stint in jail.
"The streets are always going to be there, but I am not," she said.
Omisha now considers herself among the lucky, because she has a long-term bed at Miriam's House, a shelter for women and children.
Miriam's House is one of the agencies funded partially through federal dollars, which the annual homeless count helps secure.
"As long as you know you have help and there are agencies out there like this one, then you always have a chance," Omisha said.
A chance to get off the street. And, for some, a chance at a new life.
"At any given time it could be easy just to fall back into my old life. But I have accomplished and gained so much that I just can't allow that to happen anymore. I'm going to fight this battle to the end and I'm going to come out on top," said Omisha.
In 2008, about 250 homeless were counted.
