Homelessness is common in DC, and the winter can be very dangerous for homeless people who have to sleep outside. One way to help is to volunteer with the “Point in Time” count, a census of the city’s homeless population. The idea is to understand how many people are homeless and where, so the government and organizations can plan projects and understand the problem better.
This January 27th is this year’s annual count, and they need volunteers to help conduct the census. It’s a nighttime activity since the idea is to find the homeless as they are living outside. Here’s more on the event.
On any given night in DC, about 7,300 individuals are experiencing homelessness and 1,600 are experiencing chronic homelessness. Have you ever asked yourself, “How do they come up with these numbers?” Every January, hundreds of volunteers hit the streets to count people sleeping outside through DC’s Point in Time count.
Will you join The Way Home Campaign on Wednesday, January 27th for a city wide effort to count our unsheltered neighbors? Volunteer teams will canvass the District to conduct a census and survey individuals who are experiencing homelessness. This annual activity is critical to ensuring that we have the numbers and information needed to end chronic homelessness in DC. REGISTRATION:
- To register, visit http://dcpit.org/.
- Please put “The Way Home Campaign” in the comments section so that we can track the number of volunteers who are connected to The Way Home.
EVENT DETAILS:
- Please note that you must attend a 90 minute training in order to participate in the count. Training times and locations can be found at http://dcpit.org.
- The schedule for the evening is as follows:
8pm: Activities begin (the location will be provided at volunteer training sessions) and volunteers will meet with team leaders to plan their coverage of the team’s assigned neighborhood9:30pm: Volunteers gather for remarks and reminders10:00pm – 2:00am: Point in Time count is conducted in volunteer groups.
Please note that you MUST register for the count, attend a training, and arrive by 8pm in order to participate.
JOIN US FOR DINNER!
You are invited to join The Way Home Campaign in a pre-Point in Time meal at 7:00pm in Logan Circle. If you are interested in joining us for dinner, please RSVP to jesse.rabinowitz@miriamskitchen.org. Location details will be sent upon RSVP.
