Coalition counting Hillsborough County's homeless, hoping to better serve them

TAMPA BAY - They started on a morning where the temperature started below 50 degrees.

Nearly an army of over 400 people fanned out over Hillsborough County County starting at 5 o'clock this morning, to count the homeless.

The biennial homeless count is mandated by Florida law.

The last time the count was done in 2011, it counted nearly 18 thousand homeless in Hillsborough County.  That number placed it as having the highest homeless rate per capita in the country, according to the Hillsborough County Homeless Coalition.

Volunteers donned orange shirts and clipboards, and were profiling every homeless person they encountered.

The hundreds of volunteers departed from 11 different locations, hoping to catch everyone.

Their mission continues until 11 pm tonight, often revisiting the same spots, because of how transient the population is.

Volunteers say its not only a count,  but that it's also about finding what the homeless need the most, in order to be more effective in their approach of handling the problem.