According to Doorways of NW Florida officials, there are roughly more than 400 homeless people living in Bay and its surrounding counties.

More than 200 of those 400 live somewhere not meant for human habitation.

The Point in Time housing survey provides officials with the organization a look at the number of homeless individuals in the Florida Panhandle.

The annual survey found there are more than roughly 400 homeless people living in Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, and Washington counties.

"It's a very nomadic lifestyle because they're going from one place to another place," said Darrin Francis with Doorways of NW Florida.

Doorways of NW Florida officials tell us two-thirds of the homeless people they surveyed in the Point in Time count are newly homeless.

"Most of the time people are one paycheck away from being homeless," said Yvonne Petrasovits, Executive Director of Doorways NW Florida.

Doorways of NW Florida officials will present their survey to the state in order to get proper funding to provide the homeless in the Panhandle with services.

"The state of Florida is facing a homeless epidemic, so to speak. We have been lowering the numbers every single year but really there's more and more people that are experiencing homelessness that are getting added into that mix so it's harder and harder to keep people housed," said Petrasovits.

Doorways officials say the homeless count helps them estimate how to best serve the homeless community.

Doorways officials tell us they believe the homeless count in Bay and its surrounding counties is actually higher. They expect to have the official number at the end of March.