The 2024 Hollywood Homeless Count: Why It Counts and Why You Should, Too
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The 2024 Hollywood Homeless Count: Why We Count and Why You Should, Too
DATELINE: Hollywood, CA (January 22nd, 2024)
This week the 2024 Los Angeles ‘Point-In-Time’ Homeless Count takes place from Tuesday to Thursday (1/23-1/25) all across LA County.
Los Angeles’ PIT Count, amongst the largest in the country, is conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the organization responsible for ensuring that the data collected is as up-to-date and accurate as possible.
The Hollywood portion of the PIT Count will be co-hosted by Hollywood 4WRD on Thursday night, 1/25.
Why We Count
The data collected by the annual PIT Counts is an essential component in helping decision makers understand the scope and nature of homelessness in Los Angeles County, which in turn helps LAHSA and its partners deliver services where they are needed most.
The PIT Count is conducted at night during the winter time because people experiencing homelessness are more mobile during the daytime, and warmer months, and would be more likely to be counted twice during those times.
City and State officials use the Homeless Count results to more effectively allocate local, state, and federal resources to address the complicated challenge presented by homelessness. An accurate count helps secure the funding and services needed to address the issue compassionately and sustainably.
Last year’s 2023 PIT Count found over 46,000 unhoused people living in the City of LA.
Why You Should Help
A robust volunteer turnout helps ensure a more accurate Count, which means City/County leaders and decision makers will have better data to use when allocating funds and resources.
Last year’s ‘23 Homeless Count featured over 6,000 volunteers, and even more will be required to complete the more comprehensive effort being planned for this year. Signing up to join this important community effort is also a fun, meaningful way to spend a Thursday night!
LAHSA takes several steps to ensure all volunteers’ safety AND that the unsheltered count is as thorough as possible:
- Hard-to-reach and/or areas with safety concerns, such as river embankments or encampments by the freeway, are assigned to special teams composed of professional street outreach workers
- Each volunteer watches the same training video to ensure uniformity in the counting process
- LAHSA relies heavily on local community members (including Deployment Site Coordinators*) who know their neighborhood best and can check whether volunteers missed any key areas
- Finally, LAHSA reviews all submitted data before the end of January for quality assurance.
CLICK HERE to volunteer for this year’s 2024 PIT Homeless Count. Enter “90028” in the Zip Code field to be part of the Hollywood Count with H4WRD on 1/25.
* Hollywood 4WRD is providing the Deployment Site Coordinators for the Hollywood Homeless Count on 1/25.
VOLUNTEER HERE
Additional Resources:
- For more questions about the 2024 Homeless Count, please see LAHSA’s FAQ page.
- For a one-page compendium of vital numbers and websites covering the range of homelessness services in Hollywood, download Hollywood 4WRD’s Homelessness Help Sheet
