Over 100 volunteers mobilized for homelessness

From Monday, January 24 to Wednesday, February 2, volunteers from Kings Tulare Homeless Alliance, partner agencies, faith-based organizations, and community members spent hours in the field. In addition to the raw numbers, volunteers conducted a brief 10-minute survey with homeless individuals in an effort to gather detailed, useful, demographic information.

Thanks to the support of local organizations, the volunteers were also able to distribute hygiene kits and grocery cards. 

Every January, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that communities that received funding from the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance grant program conduct a count of sheltered and unsheltered people in our community.

Point-in-Time is a count of those experiencing homelessness in the community. The count helps determine the dimensions of the issue of homelessness in order to track the progress of ending homelessness. At the local level, the count helps Kings County plan services and programs to address the needs in the community, track progress in decreasing homelessness, recognize the strengths and gaps in the homeless assistance system, and guide the direction of the Kings County Homelessness Collaborative.

“Ending homelessness may not happen overnight, but we are committed to the work. This data helps us decipher the best way to keep moving forward,” said Sanja Bugay, director of Kings County Human Services Agency and chair of the Kings County Homelessness Collaborative.

Anyone interested in helping end Homelessness in Kings County is asked to join the Homelessness Collaborative. It meets on Zoom every third Monday of the month at 1:30 pm. If the Monday falls on a Holiday, it meets on that Tuesday at 1:30 pm. Additional information can be obtained at the County of King's website at www.countyofkings.com.  Click on the Community Calendar of Events.

There, visitors will find the Kings County Homelessness Collaborative event. The event has an agenda attached, and the meeting Zoom link is on the agenda.

“If you are looking for volunteer opportunities, we have so many great ways to get involved! Check out http://kpfp.org/Tiles/homelessness,” said Bugay

Due to COVID-19, a Point in Time was not conducted in 2021. The data collected from the 2022 Point in Time count is due to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development by April 2022 and the Kings Tulare Homeless Alliance Point in Time Report will be released this summer. Each volunteer was issued COVID-19 PPE including paper masks, N95 masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer.