Ensuring the Homeless Get Counted

Homepage archive, published 2/10/10

PATH will help to ensure that L.A. County's homeless population will be counted. Photo courtesy of PATH Partners® Images.

As part of our initiative to outreach to low-income, diverse populations that are often undercounted at the census, one CCF grantee, People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), is working to ensure that L.A. County’s homeless will be included in the upcoming 2010 Census.

PATH’s work will focus on two areas: building awareness among political leaders about the importance of counting the homeless accurately and assisting with planning and tactics to facilitate the count. The homeless count occurs over three days at the end of March and must cover huge geographic areas. The group is assisting the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles with a new innovative way of counting including strategic fairs that would convene many homeless people in one place.

If homeless people are left out of the census, the organizations that help them will not get sufficient government funding to aid them, and with increased need across the county, these resources are essential. Due to the recession, many families and individuals are homeless, living in cars or on the streets. On any given day in L.A. County, there are approximately 48,000 homeless people, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The homeless are one of the hardest populations to count because of their mobility.

Established in 1984, People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to break the cycle of homelessness by empowering individuals to become self-sufficient. PATH teaches its clients how to become independent through a variety of services, including affordable housing, employment assistance and health services. PATH’s expertise working with the homeless population made the organization an excellent partner in CCF’s 2010 census outreach initiative.

Read about how you can get involved with the 2010 census and why it matters to be counted.