In a little more than two months, workers and volunteers will fan out in Long Beach to get a snapshot of the sheltered and unsheltered homeless population.
And they need help.
The city of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services is seeking volunteers to help conduct its annual “point-in-time” count of the homeless population on Jan. 23.
Volunteers must be at least 18 years old, attend a two-hour orientation in advance and work a four-hour canvassing shift starting at 4:30 a.m. on the morning of the count.
Counts are used to create an unofficial census of a local homeless population, to better understand the population, recognize trends and measure progress. Given that Long Beach has its own homeless services apparatus, known as a continuum of care, the city is required to perform the count each year.
Results are used by federal officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine how future funding should be spent on housing and services, and to measure whether they’ve made progress in the past year to stem homelessness.
The last count found 3,376 homeless people living in Long Beach and 75,312 across Los Angeles County, a 2.1% dip in city numbers and 0.27% decline countywide.
To sign up or learn more about the count, click here. The site will include orientation dates, a summary of the importance of the count and ways to help if you can’t make it on that cold morning in January.
You can also email [email protected] or call the Multi-Service Center at 562-570-4500 with additional questions.