One Night Count 1/27

Hi, if you or someone you know are experiencing homelessness, I want to let you know about an activity that’s coming up this early Friday morning, or late Thursday night—the One Night Count. Basically, every year in January, cities across the country spend a night counting both sheltered and unsheltered homeless folks in their communities. Last year, approximately 636,000 homeless persons in the United States were counted on a single night.

The annual One Night Count, scheduled for the early morning hours of Friday, January 27, will attempt to make a specific tally of unsheltered people throughout King County. The effort is organized by the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness (SKCCH) with support from the Committee to End Homelessness in King County (CEH), and dozens of local and state nonprofit and government partners. Teams of volunteers will be out in Auburn, Bellevue, Bothell, Federal Way, Kent, Kenmore, Kirkland, Redmond, Renton, Seattle, Shoreline, White Center and Woodinville. They will be counting homeless individuals and families who are sleeping outdoors, in vehicles, or in makeshift structures. On the same night, the King County’s Community Services Division will collect information from agencies providing shelter and transitional housing, to count the people using these publicly and privately funded services. The 2012 One Night Count will also collect information from select hospitals about emergency room usage, and from Metro night owl buses operating throughout the county.

In January 2011, volunteers found 2,442 people surviving outside without shelter. Another 6,382 people staying in shelters and transitional housing programs throughout King County were counted, bringing the 2011 One Night Count total to 8,824.

I wanted to give you a heads up since you might see folks on the streets with clipboards asking you a little information. Please do let yourself be counted. This survey is really important as many funding decisions for homeless individuals are based around the number of folks they count. King County received over $20 million in federal homeless housing funds this year. It’s also an opportunity to raise awareness of many of the issues some of you face on a daily basis and a chance for you to share your experiences and circumstances with decision-makers who need to hear what it’s really like out there.

That’s the One Night Count, this Friday, January 27 (late night of January 26) from 2:00 AM to 5:00 AM. For more information, see the One Night Count website. Everyone counts, so please be counted!

Poverty Action on the Capitol Day (MLK Day)

Hi this Lambert from CVM. I‘m calling to encourage you to take action to end poverty this Martin Luther King Day! Come to Olympia with the Statewide Poverty Action Network on Monday January 16th for their “Poverty Action on the Capitol” Day.

Next Monday a free bus will leave Seattle from Solid Ground (at 1501 N 45th St. in Wallingford) at 7:30 am on Monday, Jan. 16, and return around 5:00 pm the same day. You must sign up for the bus in advance by calling Poverty Action at 206-694-6794—Ask for Senait.

Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Children are welcome. Come to learn about policies that affect low-income people, network with people from across the region and share your story with lawmakers.

We hope you will turn out on January 16th to call upon the state legislature and the Governor to make ending poverty a priority. For more information call Poverty Action at 206-694-6794 or visit povertyaction.org.

Community Resource Exchange 1/13

Hi, if you or someone you know are experiencing homelessness, I wanted to let you know about the United Way Community Resource Exchange on Friday, January 13 from 9:00a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at CenturyLink Field (formerly Qwest Field) at 800 Occidental Ave South in Seattle. The Community Resource Exchange is a one-day, one stop way for homeless people to get free services like healthcare, legal assistance, haircuts and national phone calls. Also available are referrals to social services including housing, counseling, public benefits and employment training. A free hot meal will also be served. And Community Voice Mail will have a booth where people can sign up in person for voice mail numbers. If you are homeless, we encourage you to attend this event as it will be a great way to get a variety of free services in one place, in one day. So don’t miss it, and bring your friends to the Community Resource Exchange this Friday January 13 from 9 to 2:30 at CenturyLink Field. For more information, email cre@uwkc.org or visit unitedwayofkingcounty.org/cre. Thanks for using Community Voice Mail.