Modesto meeting to talk about homelessness

Modesto and other officials will hold a public meeting Wednesday evening to talk about developments in the effort to find long-term solutions to homelessness.

The meeting is from 6 to 8 p.m. at Modesto Centre Plaza and follows up on a January meeting that dealt with homelessness and its impacts in the city. The meetings are part of the Focus on Prevention effort, which the county launched more than a year ago. The broad-based effort involves the cities, businesses, churches and other community members in finding long-term solutions.

Participants Wednesday will talk about, among things, the strategies being developed to address homelessness.

The meeting comes as the results of the most recent countywide count of the homeless was released about two weeks ago. The count turned up 1,434 homeless people, including 1,051 in Modesto. Volunteers conducted the count in January on behalf of the Stanislaus Housing & Support Services Collaborative, which consists of government agencies, nonprofits, faith-based groups and others that provide housing and services for the homeless.

These counts have been conducted since 2005 and have turned up 1,156 to 1,800 homeless people. The counts are not definitive but a snapshot of the county’s homeless population in a given time period.

Wednesday’s meeting is open to the community. Organizers are asking participants to register to ensure there is adequate meeting space, but registration is not required. Participants can register at https://modestofop.eventbrite.com.

This story was originally published May 30, 2016 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Modesto meeting to talk about homelessness."