Inland Empire governments, nonprofits and volunteers are gearing up to count the region’s homeless residents at the end of the month.
The federal government requires local governments to periodically count the number of people who are without permanent shelter in their region. The information helps determine how many resources are provided to local governments for programs to help the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless.
This year’s Point-In-Time Counts come after a year in which the number of Inland Empire residents living without homes jumped. According to local 2023 Point in Time Counts, homelessness grew 9% in 2022 in Los Angeles County, 12% in Riverside County, and 26% in San Bernardino County.
This year’s count will take place on Jan. 23 in Los Angeles County, including the cities of Pomona, Claremont and La Verne, and on Jan. 25 in San Bernardino County.
The county is currently recruiting volunteers for its count. Those interested in volunteering can sign up online at sbchp.sbcounty.gov/community-projects/point-in-time-count/ and can pick which city they want to help canvass.
“Addressing homelessness is a top priority for San Bernardino,” San Bernardino Mayor Helen Tran is quoted as saying in a city news release issued Monday, Jan. 8. “We hope San Bernardino residents will once again turn out to be an important part of the solution.”
Volunteers must be 18 years or older. Both individuals and groups are encouraged to volunteer. Volunteers in San Bernardino County must have a smartphone or similar device to conduct the count and volunteers are required to go through training beforehand.
The county government won a national award last year for how it trains volunteers for the count, county spokesperson David Wert wrote in an email.
In Pomona, the city is working with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to canvass its homeless population. To volunteer to be part of Pomona’s Point-in-Time Count, visit TheyCountWillYou.org and select Pomona’s Ganesha Community Center as the deployment site.
Riverside County won’t be doing a homeless count this year, county spokesperson Brooke Federico wrote in an email.
The federal government allows for two years between unsheltered homeless counts, she said. The county will do a count in January 2025 and will count homeless people in shelters this year.
The county used to count unsheltered homeless people every year until the COVID-19 pandemic, when no count was done in 2021.
“Moving to a new schedule of counting unsheltered residents every other year allows county teams to focus resources on housing unsheltered residents,” Federico said.
Instead of a count, the county will hold symposiums on homelessness and solutions to lower the ranks of unhoused people. Dates and times for symposiums in western Riverside County will be announced later, Federico said.
More on Inland Empire homelessness
- Why haven’t we solved homelessness in California?
- San Bernardino County ‘sat’ on homeless funds before returning $4.4M, nonprofits say
- California could end homelessness by 2035 with $8.1B per year, report says
- Do homelessness prevention programs work? New study says yes
- How the California Legislature addressed homelessness this year
