Some in the Brazos Valley are homeless by choice and others are simply unaware of services available to them that could put them on the path to stability.
During Wednesday's annual "point in time" count of the homeless in the seven-county region, 10 were tallied in Brazos County -- three in College Station and seven in Bryan -- but the experts say that's a reflection of only about 10 percent of the entire homeless population.
"We're only out here one day, and we can only visit so many locations," said Judson Brown, vice chairman of the coalition and Housing Voucher Coordinator for the Brazos Valley Council of Governments. "So there's a good chance we miss some people, but we do our homework and try to contact as many as we can."
Brown said that with the funding and programs available to help those in need, homelessness shouldn't exist.
"There's just a lack of coordination between services, so we try to talk to people and figure out why they fall through the cracks," he said.
Jacklin Pharms, 41, was dressed for work and about to leave the Texas Oaks Motel where she's lived for two months when she received a knock on the door from volunteers Thursday morning.
Pharms has worked for St. Joseph in the nutritional services department for three years. During the past 12 months, both her father and brother died, and she said she's had difficulties adjusting to the loss.
Her rent at the motel on Texas Avenue in Bryan is $500 a month, which makes it difficult for her to save enough money to be able to put down a deposit on an apartment.
She said she hopes to move into The Grove apartments on 29th Street soon and is saving as much as she can to make that happen.
Pharms' story is a familiar one to program director Ella McGruder, who's worked for the non-profit Project Unity for 16 years and was a volunteer in the count Thursday.
"It never gets easier to hear the stories of struggle," she said. "But in cases like that it's good to know that we talked to her and can get her the help she needs to get out of that situation."
Not everyone is so willing to accept help. Along with asking the identified homeless individuals their name and age, volunteers were handing out bags of toiletries.
Some refused the bags and provided little information to the volunteers.
Brown said a lot of the resistance is because of personal pride.
"They don't want to take a handout and they've been ostracized by society, so a lot of times they're not interested in talking to you," he said. "But we just have to keep trying to get them the help they need and find a better way to communicate that."
Then there are those like Julian Herndon, 68, who chooses to live in a tent in a wooded area of the Texas 47 median.
"I'm not homeless -- I chose this," he said. "And I'm not scared of work, either."
Herndon works odd jobs landscaping, painting and cleaning to support himself and rides his mountain bike everywhere he goes.
He said for 27 years he worked on a shrimp boat in the Gulf of Mexico but after his wife died, he decided to take a bike trip across county like he'd always wanted to do.
More than two decades later, that trip continues and landed him in Bryan for the past two years. Herndon gladly accepted the toiletry bags but again stressed he chose the situation he's in and doesn't need housing assistance.
"People bike across the county all the time, It's the best way to really see things," he said. "It's not that big of a deal -- until you have to go uphill."
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