Stanislaus County Housing and Support Services Collaborative (SCHSSC) will be conducting a point in time count of homeless persons throughout Stanislaus County on Thursday, Jan. 28. That will include an accounting of the homeless in Oakdale.

The SCHSSC is a group of over 50 public and private agencies committed to creating solutions for preventing and overcoming homelessness in the community.

The goal of the count is to conduct a street-based and shelter/service-based count of homeless persons and families in each city and the unincorporated areas of Stanislaus County. The street-based count will include places that homeless people use primarily for sleeping and other places they use as part of their daily activities. The shelter/service-based count will include those places where homeless persons receive services such as shelters, transitional housing or food distribution programs. In addition to the count, surveys will be completed to identify service use patterns and disability and demographic information that can be used to better understand the needs of homeless individuals and families.

The results of the count will be used to help raise awareness about the issue of homelessness, plan future services geared to unsheltered homeless people, understand changes in trends among the homeless population and accurately identify service needs, in order to bring funding resources into the community.

Volunteers from over 20 nonprofit agencies, churches and public service providers will be participating in the 2016 Point in Time Count. In addition to completing a questionnaire, volunteers will provide the homeless persons with a “to-go” bag with food donated by local businesses and service providers along with contact information for services available in the community.

“We strongly encourage persons who are facing homelessness to participate in this very important event,” said Stanislaus County Housing Authority spokesperson Michele Gonzales.

For more information on where to go to be counted, or if you would like to participate in this event, contact the Housing Authority at (209) 557-2016.

If you are interested in volunteering, the deadline to do so is Friday, Jan. 22.