1,000 Volunteers Needed for MDHA 2017 Homeless Count – Registration Now Open

On Thursday night, January 26, 2017, 8:00pm–1:00am, the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) will conduct its annual Point-In-Time (PIT) Homeless Count. MDHA is actively seeking the help of the community in recruiting volunteers for this task.

The Count, a requirement under federal law, helps communities and the nation as a whole, identify and understand the extent and nature of homelessness, changing trends in this area, and the measure of our success in ending homelessness. Results of the Count will be shared with the community during the “State of the Homeless Address” in March 2017.

That night, volunteers will fan out from two staging areas, First United Methodist Church of Dallas, and Wilshire Baptist Church, across Dallas County, to count the unsheltered homeless, while partner agencies will count the sheltered homeless. The volunteers will follow routes created with geographic information system (GIS) mapping software, canvassing under bridges, in parks, in cars, and in (safe to investigate) wooded areas and abandoned buildings, as well as other areas where persons may be seeking shelter from the cold.

“In order to conduct a full and accurate count of the unsheltered homeless, MDHA will need 1,000 volunteers, registered as teams of 3-5 persons,” said Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO. This event, which requires a 4-6 hour one time commitment, makes for an excellent short term service project for congregations, companies, non-profits, service organizations, and neighborhood associations. Advance online and on-site training will be provided. Similar counts will be conducted in Collin County, as well as in Garland, Irving and Mesquite, and the results will be reported with the results from the main Dallas Count.

Volunteers may register their teams at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PITCountDallas, and learn more about the Count at http://www.mdhadallas.org/2017-homeless-count/. “Please share the news offline with your friends, and on social media using hashtag #dallascounts2017,” said David Gruber, MDHA Development and Communications Director. “Thursday night, January 26, 2017, 8:00pm–1:00am, let’s make this statement as a community: In Dallas everybody counts.”