The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness is looking for volunteers to help with their annual census of the homeless population.
The organization will do a point-in-time count starting the evening of January 22 and running through January 23. That part of the survey counts adults and families with children on one night to get a snapshot of the homeless population. It is then followed by a week-long survey of the youth population that is homeless, which runs from January 23 through January 29. Many youth are missed in the point-in-time count because they often don’t use adult emergency shelters or other services for the homeless, according to the coalition.
The data is used to get a look at the overall status of homelessness in the state and to compare it year to year. In 2018, the point-in-time count found an estimated 3,383 people experiencing homelessness in Connecticut, 683 of them children. The youth count found an estimated 5,054 people under the age of 25 either homeless or with unstable housing arrangements.
Volunteers will be trained on how to go about the survey and briefed on community resources before they hit the streets as part of a team.
To learn more or sign up, click here.
