Los Angeles County and the City of Long Beach will be conducting their annual Homeless Count events this month, and registration to volunteer is now open. Sign up today to help your community gain a better understanding of the needs of people who are experiencing homelessness and the resources that can help address homelessness.

2024 Long Beach Homeless Count - Volunteer Registration

The Count will take place on Thursday, January 25, 2024 at The Grand Long Beach (4101 E. Willow St., Long Beach, CA 90815). 

To volunteer for the Count, people must:

• Be 18 years or older.
• Attend a two-hour orientation and training prior to the day of the Count. Orientations will be held both virtually and in person and will occur in early January.
• Commit to a four-hour canvassing shift on Thursday, January 25, 2024. Volunteers will be expected to report at 4:30 a.m. and dispatched to the field by 5:00 a.m.

About the Homeless Point-in-Time Count

The Homeless Count is an annual comprehensive count of people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach. The Count is one of the most valuable tools that allows the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and local communities the ability to assess homelessness at national and local levels.

The Long Beach Homeless Count is a community-wide effort that provides an opportunity for residents and local businesses to actively contribute and learn about people who are experiencing homelessness and gain an understanding of the resources available to address homelessness in Long Beach. Learn more about the Homeless Count on the City of Long Beach's website here or email HomelessCount@longbeach.gov.

Sign Up Here: tinyurl.com/2024LBHC 

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) 2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count

In 2024, thousands of volunteers will spread out across the 4,000 square miles of Los Angeles County in late January to conduct the Unsheltered Count. Traveling in small groups, volunteers will tally the number of unsheltered individuals, tents, vehicles, and make-shift shelters they see in their assigned census tract.

The Unsheltered Count will begin on Tuesday, January 23, in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys. Volunteers in East and West Los Angeles will count on Wednesday, January 24. Finally, the Count will wrap up Thursday, January 25, in the Antelope Valley, Metro, and South Los Angeles.  

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires a biennial point-in-time count of people experiencing homelessness. In 2016, LAHSA started hosting the Homeless Count annually to provide improved analysis regarding the trends of people experiencing homelessness. Government agencies, including LAHSA, use the data collected during the Homeless Count to develop strategies to end homelessness and determine where funding and resources will do the most good.

LAHSA depends on an enormous volunteer base to conduct the Homeless Count. This year, the agency seeks 8,000 volunteers to cover the entire Continuum of Care. 

2024 will mark the second year that volunteers will use Esri’s Homeless Point in Time App to tally the number of people and makeshift dwellings they find during their count. As LAHSA continues to use technology to make the Homeless Count as accurate as possible, this year, it is piloting geofencing within the Point in Time App to alert volunteers when they have moved outside their assigned census tract’s boundaries. 

The annual Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count includes the Youth Count and the Housing Inventory Count. LAHSA will conduct the Youth Count from January 22 through 31 and the Housing Inventory Count on January 24.

Volunteers can register for the Homeless Count at TheyCountWillYou.org.