Every two years hundreds of volunteers work together to do the Point-in-Time (PIT) Count to survey the homeless population.
“This is a homeless census," said Kari Howell, HMIS Program Manager. "So this is the community coming together to count our most vulnerable community members."
Howell told KSBY that the information that is collected is reported to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is then given to Congress through the Annual Homeless Assessment Report.
“So the information that we learn during the PIT count helps determine federal funding opportunities, and it helps make our community competitive for those federal funding resources,” Howell said.
Cecil Hale has participated in the PIT count before, he is also the CAPSLO Homeless Services Manager, CAPSLO provides homeless services and shelter.
He told me this is a unique experience where volunteers who don’t usually work with homeless communities can see first hand what it’s like.
“It really becomes personable and you really get to understand that homelessness is not just one definition there are all different reasons why individuals end up on the streets and some of them have amazing stories,” Hale said.
Howell said that there is training that volunteers will go through prior to participating.
“We will show volunteers how to compassionately engage with people experiencing homelessness and every volunteer is put into a group and matched with a homeless service provider," Howell said.
Each volunteer group has a map which has the area that they have to cover.
Howell said that they currently have 140 people registered to volunteer but are still looking for about 50 more.
People who are interested in volunteering have until Friday, January 16 to sign up on the SLO County website.
The county-wide count will take place on Tuesday, January 27.
