SNOHOMISH COUNTY — The annual Point in Time Homelessness Count will be happening Tuesday, Jan. 24. It’s to get a real gauge for how many people are experiencing homelessness in our communities.
You can help with this effort. Volunteers are sought to help spend part of the day looking around to approach people experiencing homelessness to ask to gather survey and demographical information.
To sign up for your local area:
• In Everett: Contact Whitney Summers of Catholic Community Services, whitneys@ccsww.org or 425-324-6331
• In Monroe: Contact Michael Lorio of Take The Next Step, mikeL@ttns.org or 425-291-9864
• In Sultan: Contact Lindsay Donovan of Volunteers of America, ldonovan@voaww.org
• In North County: Contact Housing Hope at volunteer@housinghope.org
• In Lynnwood or Edmonds: Contact Kresha Green of the YWCA, kgreen@ywcaworks.org or 425-626-1899
• Don’t see your city? Contact Liz Salazar of Snohomish County, elizabeth.salazer@snoco.org or 425-293-8391
Volunteers meet at a specific site in advance to get clipboards and sometimes carry items to offer to homeless people they encounter.
Homeless people who agree to be surveyed are asked for the first two initials of their names, last name, and date of birth or age. The identifying data is to avoid duplication in the count.
Volunteer surveyors also collect information about the current situations people are experiencing and their circumstances to homelessness. It is not intended as invasive.
The count is a snapshot, and not comprehensive, but the results are forwarded to the federal government to bring back funding toward homelessness.
In the 2022 count, 1,184 individuals from 953 households reported they were unsheltered. About half told surveryors they’ve been homeless for 12-plus months.
