Around 800 volunteers will be involved in the 2015 annual One Night Count that is set for the early hours of Friday morning. Volunteers will take part in counting the number of unsheltered homeless people around Seattle and beyond.
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.
The teams of volunteers will return to areas all over Seattle, Ballard included. Teams are led by trained captains, and count in specific areas to look for people sleeping in doorways, under bridges, or in their cars.
The Coalition also collects information about people who are seeking shelter in local hospital emergency rooms, on Metro night owl buses, and at special overnight events to document youth and young adults who are homeless.
During the day on Friday, volunteers with the Coalition are set to conduct in-person surveys at community locations to gather additional information about people who are surviving outdoors, including veterans and people who are chronically homeless.
The data collected before and at the count informs elected officials and planners at all levels of government about the extent of homelessness in King County.
Last year volunteers counted a total of 3,123 men, women and children trying to survive in cars, tents, by riding all night buses, waiting in hospital emergency rooms, or curling up in blankets under bridges or in doorways.
Click here to find out how you can assist the One Night Count effort and to find out more information about Friday’s count.
