Modesto-area homeless survey issues plea for more volunteers for Jan. 25 count
The organizers of the annual count of homeless men, women and children in Stanislaus County need more volunteers for this year’s effort, which will be held Jan. 25.
Organizers need at least 250 volunteers, but only 135 people had signed up as of Friday, which was the last day to do so. Organizers have extended the deadline to this Thursday.
These counts are held in communities nationwide in late January. The Department of Housing and Urban Development requires them as part of allocating funding to address homelessness.
The Stanislaus Community System of Care, composed of local governments, service providers and other organizations, conducts the local counts.
HUD calls these efforts point-in-time counts because they provide a snapshot of homelessness and do not represent a definitive count of a community’s homeless population. The results can be affected by a number of factors, including the number of volunteers who participate.
Last year’s count tallied 2,091 homeless people throughout the county, with the vast majority in Modesto.
Volunteers will receiving training, ask homeless people to complete a survey, and hand out care packages to the people they survey.
Go to stanislaus24.pointintime.info to register. You’ll be asked to pick a training session and city where you’d like to volunteer. You can also volunteer by calling 209-558-2961 or emailing csoc@stancounty.com.
