(Homeless count in Imperial County)…It was conducted in January.

The results were presented to the County Board of Supervisors this week. The Point In Time Count Summary was presented by Kenneth Woods with the Imperial Valley Continuum of Care Council. He said the annual count to establish a correct number of the Homeless population in Imperial County will help in the pursuit of grants to provide funding to help care for Homelessness in the County. He said it also brings awareness to the community about the county’s homelessness conditions, and it helps involve the entire community in the solutions dealing with Homeless issues, as well as helping bring in additional resources to aid in the fight to end homelessness. He said the 2017 counts were much higher than they were in 2016. The sheltered numbers were the same each year at 128. Woods said that is because the number of beds available did not change. The Unsheltered number, however did change greatly. This years count recorded 943 Homeless people on the streets, as compared to 252 counted last year. Woods said the council does not believe there are more homeless people on the street than there was last year. He said the increased numbers are the result of many more volunteers participating in this years count.