The City of Santa Monica will conduct its annual street-by-street enumeration of homeless individuals on the night of January 27, 2016 rain or shine. This annual count helps assess the effectiveness of the City’s efforts to address homelessness. In addition, accurate information helps the City:
· Understand changes in trends among the City’s homeless populations;
· Adjust the types of programs and services available according to need and use resources as efficiently as possible;
· Comply with HUD and local stakeholder requirements; and
· Raise public awareness about the issue of homelessness.
Past counts have helped demonstrate a reduction in homelessness since the City’s adoption in 2008 of the Action Plan to Address Homelessness, as well as identifying changes in locations where homeless people are found throughout the City.
The City of Santa Monica seeks 200 volunteers to assist with the 2016 Count, which will take place Wednesday, January 27, 2016 from 10:30pm to 2:30am with training and a kickoff event at the St. Monica Catholic Community Grand Pavilion.
Volunteers will receive training, and will deploy in teams from St. Monica’s to cover every area of the City by foot and by car to conduct a visual count of people sleeping in public places. At the same time, homeless individuals will be counted in shelters, transitional programs, local area hospitals and other overnight facilities.
Interested volunteers can RSVP online at: www.santamonicahomelesscount.com or by contacting Deidre Mumford at 310.458.8701 or deidre.mumford@smgov.net.
