Friend of CHOA,
This a special email about the Homeless Count in Arcadia coming up in 2 days, on Wednesday, February 19th, at 8pm. Thank you if you have signed up already.
If you have not signed up to volunteer, and still thinking about it, now is the time to join in. We need you. The city needs 50 volunteers, to cover all the areas around Arcadia. There 19 folks signed up so far. This is a time commitment, and will take time, probably all night. This a great way to serve.
Below are details of what is involved, how the count works, and how to sign up and register.
Peace,
–Mike Veerman
CHOA Team Lead
Rescheduled PIT Homeless Count for February 19th:
Due to the fires, LA County rescheduled the Point-in-Time (PIT) Homeless Count. For Arcadia, the count will occur on Wednesday, February 19th, starting at 8pm at the Arcadia Community Center.
CHOA gave a bit of background information in our January newsletter, see the link here. Please review that, especially on why the Homeless Count is important.
https://choaarcadia.org/fire-relief-info-and-the-homeless-count-jan-2025/
The Homeless count is being done simultaneously throughout LA County. Each city does a count, and Arcadia of course is organized. If you like to learn a bit more, or read another perspective, NPR/LAist has a good article below on the Homeless count this year, see the link below.
https://laist.com/brief/news/housing-homelessness/homeless-count-los-angeles-wildfires-2025-crisis
The City of Arcadia needs many of us to volunteer to help with the count. They need 50 volunteers, and so far, there are about 19 signed up. If you are still deciding, please join in. We need you.
Basically, the key things to know are below:
- We start at 8pm at the Arcadia Community Center (365 Campus Drive), to get organized and get assigned sections of the city for each of us to cover. It takes about 2 to 4 hours to finish. Yes, that can be late. Thank you for volunteering.
- Ideally, we got out in teams of three, in one car. One drives/navigates through the assigned section of the city, one is looking for and counting folks that are unhoused, and the 3rd person enters the results in the phone app. If you have a team of 2, that still works: one drives, the other enters the count in the app, while you both look for folks that are unhoused (you are driving slowly). You all register as a team, and it is best to register as family, to not spread COVID to others. You need to be over 18 of age to volunteer. If you don’t have a team, teams will be created when we meet on the night of Feb. 19th.
- You need to complete a 30 minute on-line training before February 19th, on what to do, how the counting process works, and just be familiar with the app on your phone (and install it before the count). After you register, you will go back to the count.lahsa.org website. Use your email as your user name, and the password you are given to sign in, and then you can view the training videos, and PDF reminder documents. Look for the “Learn” box, and click the “Access training link”.
- We stay in our cars. You don’t have to walk around. We don’t open tents, as we need to respect people’s privacy. If you find a situation is too risky or uncomfortable, you do not need to go into dark areas.
- Register before February 19th. To register, use one of the 2 links below. See the flier below as well. See the 30-second promotional video at the very bottom.
https://www.arcadiaca.gov/enrich/recreation___community_services/homeless_services/point_in_time_count.php
http://www.theycountwillyou.org
