Santa Barbara County seeking volunteers for Point in Time County by Friday

The deadline to volunteer for this years Point in Time Count in Santa Barbara County is just days away.

“So the point in Time count is a a count of everybody who is experiencing homelessness throughout Santa Barbara County … it’s something that every county across the United States has to do in January," said associate director Landon Ranch of SB ACT.

In order to find out how many people are homeless, and where they are concentrated, the county is looking for hundreds of volunteers to help with the county.

"We still need about 200 more volunteers … will be grouped up in teams they’ll be trained on zoom and then they get sent out to go over all the census tracks in the county and try and count and interview people who are experiencing homelessness," said Ranck.

While the point in time count is happening early in the morning, organizers are hoping volunteers will become inspired to make a difference in the community.

"I Love seeing people coming together … think is really important and I really love seeing how much people get out of point in time county," said program administrator Kai Roldan of SB ACT.

“I hope that people hear this and maybe just take an interest even if you can’t show up to volunteer that day maybe educate yourself a little bit about homelessness in our community," said Ranck.

Volunteers will be able to help the county collect accurate data on the day of the count.

This data will determine how much federal and state funding our community will receive to fight homelessness.

It will also help agencies know where to direct homelessness services and resources.

Patricia

If you’d like to volunteer for this years point in time count, remember, the deadline to register is Friday.

For more information, visit: https://www.countyofsb.org/3667/Homeless-Point-In-Time-Count