I'm guessing that the Status options are currently being selected using a multiple-select field. If you want to leave it like that, you can use a formula field to get the count. Assuming that none of the multiple-select options contain commas, you could use a variation of this formula, replacing {Multiple Select} with your field reference:
IF({Multiple Select}, LEN({Multiple Select}) - LEN(SUBSTITUTE({Multiple Select}, ",", "")) + 1, 0)
Another option would be to use another table to contain the status options and a linked record field to link to them. In that case, the count could be obtained using a count field. A benefit of this method is that you could collect other data in that status table; e.g. add a count field that would show you how many projects are tied to each status.