This report and its companion, volume II, provide a snapshot of people experiencing homelessness in Minnesota. The information is intended as a resource for planners, policymakers, service providers, and others addressing the problems associated with homelessness. Findings are based on interviews with 638 men and 685 women in shelters, transitional housing programs, and on the street. Weightings of the sample are used to describe the characteristics of 2,470 adults and 1,007 children identified as homeless in Minnesota on October 27, 1994. The total number of homeless and precariously housed persons in Minnesota on this day was estimated at 12,415. Of these, a disproportionate number were members of minority groups. Women and children represent the fastest growing segment of the homeless population, and the total number of children experiencing homelessness in Minnesota, especially in the metropolitan area, has risen dramatically. Fifty percent of the homeless adults interviewed had no more than one of the identified potential barriers to employment, representing a decline in the number of homeless persons with more than one barrier to employment. Four appendixes provide detailed information on homelessness, including six detailed tables of information on homelessness. (Contains 120 tables.) (SLD)