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News

Thousands Of Volunteers Needed To Count LA's Homeless

By  Lisa Brenner
Published Jan 14, 2011 11:00 PM
homlessness_count.jpg
Photo by jimmay bones via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
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Thousands of volunteers are still needed to help count homeless people on the streets and in the shelters of L.A. County. Los Angeles is considered to have "the highest street homeless population in the country, with as many as 50,000 people on any given night," notes the LA Times per the county Homeless Services Authority.

A more accurate count, mandated every two years by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, is needed to help officials determine resource allocation for our city's homeless population. The next tally will take place Jan. 25-27, 2011 in Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley, east L. A. County, South Bay, Antelope Valley and Santa Monica.

Over 4,000 volunteers are needed and each must be trained before deployment throughout the city. A website called They Will Count You is set up with information about "exactly what volunteers can do to help and how to sign up," reports the LA Times.

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