Long Beach Health and Human Services is looking to gather 350 volunteers to help assist in the City’s 2025 Homelessness Point in Time Count.
This annual initiative is a comprehensive street count of people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach. The next Point in Time Count will take place on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025.
Long Beach operates its own Continuum of Care — one of only three cities in Los Angeles County to do so — which is a planning body funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that administers housing and services for those experiencing homelessness.
HUD necessitates an annual count of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness during a single night in January through the Continuum of Care. The Long Beach Health Department’s Homeless Services Bureau runs the Point in Time Count as well as the City’s Continuum of Care.
The Count allows residents and local businesses the opportunity to learn more about local people experiencing homelessness, raises awareness about available resources, and assists efforts to address homelessness in Long Beach. This large-scale effort helps define the scope of homelessness and identify potential gaps where better assistance is possible.
Volunteer registration can be completed online, and will be open until all slots are filled. Those who sign up after the 350 volunteer threshold is reached will be added to a waitlist. More information about the Long Beach Homeless Count can be found by emailing HomelessCount@longbeach.gov, calling the Multi-Service Center at 562-570-4500 or by viewing the Annual Homeless Count webpage.
Volunteers must meet the following requirements:
- Be 18 years of age or older
- Attend a virtual or in-person two-hour orientation and training before the Count. These orientations will occur in early January.
- Pledge to fulfill a four-hour canvassing shift on the morning of Jan. 23.
Registered volunteers are expected to arrive at the Grand Long Beach (4101 E. Willow St.) at 4:30 a.m. on the morning of the count, and will be dispatched to begin canvassing by 5 a.m.
Groups of three to five volunteers will be assigned to cover various segments of the city, with individual volunteers administering a survey to people experiencing homelessness who are open to sharing their information. Volunteer teams will also distribute gift cards, hygiene kits and water to people experiencing homelessness. In areas with less density, people may be assigned to canvas by car, but the majority will be done on foot.
The City requires a two-hour orientation for canvassers to learn the most effective practices to engage with people experiencing homelessness, along with how to use a mobile app to administer the Count and the Count logistics. Canvassers must complete a volunteer orientation regardless of prior Count participation.
The mandatory volunteer orientations will be hosted on the following days:
- Wednesday, Jan. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. via Zoom
- Thursday, Jan. 9, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Long Beach Multi-Service Center (1301 W. 12th St.)
- Thursday, Jan. 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. via Zoom
Ways To Donate
While the search is on for community canvassers, volunteers are encouraged to raise awareness about the Point in Time Count and help the recruiting process by sharing the volunteer opportunity on social media.
People can make tax-deductible donations directly towards Count incentives online at the Mayor’s Fund for Homeless Action and typing “Homeless Count – Mayor’s Fund” in the additional comments box. The money raised will go towards gift cards and other incentives for the individual being surveyed during the Count.
Checks made payable to “Long Beach Community Foundation” with “Homeless Count – Mayor’s Fund” written in the check memo can also be sent to the Long Beach Community Foundation, located at 400 Oceangate, Suite 800.
Physical donations are also encouraged, with requested items such as socks, travel-size hygiene products and bottled water to be distributed during the Count. Items can be dropped off at the following locations:
- All Long Beach Public Library locations during regular operating hours (certain LBPL branches are closed on Sundays and Mondays)
- Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach (3635 Long Beach Blvd.), open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
- Scherer Park Community Center (4654 Pasadena Ave.), open from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.
- Long Beach Multi-Service Center (1301 W 12th St.), open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. The Multi-Service Center also will accept small gift cards ($5 to $10).
To learn more about the City’s homelessness reduction efforts, visit longbeach.gov/homelessness and keep up with @lbhealthdept and @longbeachcity on social media, as well as the hashtag #EveryoneHomeLB.
