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CORRECTION: The headline of this story originally gave the wrong date for the count. It is Friday, Jan. 23. The Outpost regrets the error.

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From the Humboldt County Department of Heath and Human Services:

The Humboldt Housing & Homelessness Coalition (HHHC) will conduct a Point-in-Time count of people experiencing homelessness during the morning of Friday, Jan. 23, and volunteers are needed to assist. 

The biennial count, known by many as the PIT, is a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requirement. Numbers from the count are used by the State of California to allocate funding to counties to address homelessness and housing. 

Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services PIT Count Coordinator Robert Ward said it’s important to get a count of how many people are experiencing homelessness in Humboldt County that is as accurate as possible. “The state uses PIT count results to determine how much homelessness funding will be allocated to each region,” he said. “We are counting on volunteers to ensure we have complete coverage of all the areas where people experiencing street homelessness may be found.” 

Volunteers will gather into teams early on the morning of Jan. 23, and start counting at 6 a.m. In addition to a head count, volunteers will ask people where they slept the night before and gather other general demographic information. 

For more information and to sign up to volunteer, visit https://humboldt.pointintime.info/.

The HHHC is also collecting information about locations where people are known to be residing. If you are able to contribute information on known locations, please register as a volunteer so that you can input that information, even if you do not plan to assist us on the morning of the count. Questions can be directed to HHHC@co.humboldt.ca.us.

The HHHC is a coalition of housing advocates, businesses, funders, elected officials, services and housing providers, faith-based organizations and other community stakeholders working together to identify and address local housing needs. In Humboldt County, the HHHC is the lead group for homelessness issues and the federally designated Continuum of Care. For more information about the HHHC, visit humboldtgov.org/HHHC.