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Thousands of volunteers are bracing for the daunting task of counting the homeless throughout Los Angeles county. They'll be armed with clipboards and are responsible for answering the question everyone wants to know: has homelessness gone up?
Well duh, anyone can tell you that.
This annual countywide count will take this place this Tuesday through Thursday and will take months before the official number is released. This count does not include Long Beach, Pasadena, and Glendale are not included in this county because these cities conduct their own count.
The count is seen as an annual touchstone in the ongoing effort to reduce the number of people without shelter.
“It’s the best way we can capture as real a number as we can,” said Shari Weaver, a South LA volunteer, “The annual point-in-time results are the most reliable (we have), but it doesn’t mean it’s perfect or is without flaws. We are talking about a transient population.”
It’s a “daunting task,” she added.
Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, is expecting the numbers to go up as well.
“I expect the homeless count to show us that we still have a lot of homeless people in the region,” he said, adding that it’s time for cities other than Los Angeles, which he argues shoulders the brunt of the issue, to do more.
“Our neighboring cities have not put forth plans to assist on this issue,” he said. “I’ve not seen neighboring cities moving forward on opening shelters. I’ve not seen neighboring cities moving forward on establishing safe-parking locations.”
For more information, please check it out at the Daily Breeze.