Santa Monica Homeless Count Slated For January; Volunteers Needed

SANTA MONICA, CA — After a year on pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Santa Monica Homeless Count is back and scheduled for January.

The count will be Jan. 26 and will include modified COVID-19 safety practices in place as the volunteer corps push this important and mandatory initiative forward, according to the city.

“The Homeless Count has long been one of my favorite evenings of the year because of the outpouring of support to address our daunting challenge as a city and as a society,” Mayor Sue Himmelrich said in a statement.

Everyone in the community is encouraged to learn about why it's important to count, the city said. The Homeless Count is a point-in-time census of people experiencing homelessness overseen regionally by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) as a requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“Thank you to the hundreds of people who will step up to join the count and, to everyone in our community, I implore each of you to find ways to actively contribute to our efforts to address homelessness and to learn about the ways our City is driving change to help people find the assistance they need,” Himmelrich said.

Santa Monica community members who are interested in volunteering on Jan. 26, can now register. Key changes to the 2022 count include the following:

1. Training will be done virtually by video in advance of January 26. Volunteers can take the required training at a time that is convenient for them.
2. We are asking volunteers to pre-form their own teams of 3-4 from their pod. Volunteers serving on an individual basis will be paired with others and will be required to drive to count locations separately from the deployment site.
3. Count materials will be provided through a drive-up-style format at a location to be shared soon.

The information gathered from the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count is used by policymakers and service providers to understand better and implement solutions to address homelessness.

"Here in Santa Monica, we use the information to both understand the number of people living without shelter as well as other trends, including concentrations of homelessness throughout the city," according to the city.

"From there, the City and our service provider partners can focus resources in the areas of greatest need," the city said.

During the 2019 count, the city found an increase in the number of people without shelter on the beach.

"This information allowed the city to focus an outreach team in that area, which resulted in a demonstrated decrease in homelessness at the beach during the 2020 count," the city said.

Learn more about the city’s commitment to homelessness and recent investments on its website.

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