JACKSON COUNTY, MI – Volunteers are needed to help count the homeless in Jackson County.

The homeless count determines funding Jackson County organizations get from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Laura Reaume of Community Action Agency said.

There is a point-in-time count every year of how many unsheltered homeless people live in Jackson County, Reaume said. Similar counts are done nationwide.

“We try to gather as many volunteers as we can to go out and search across the county for anybody that might be living outside,” Reaume said.

Volunteers are needed for the Wednesday, Jan. 29 count. The hope is to have about 100 people participate, the Rev. Jamin Bradley, pastor of 1208Greenwood Free Methodist Church, said.

“The more the better because we have a bunch of different routes where we found homeless throughout the years and new places we see we need to check out this year,” he said.

Volunteers don’t need to preregister, just show up at the church, 1208 Greenwood Ave., at 5:30 a.m., Jan 29. At that time instructions on how to count and the routes will be given, Bradley said. The count starts at 6 a.m.

“It’s a very eye-opening experience,” he said. “There’s been some years when I’ve gone out and I haven’t found anybody, but I’ve found these tents in freezing areas with snow everywhere. Some of it is right in the open and you miss it every day.

“Doing the event starts to make you aware of how much Jackson is in need of this and persuades you to get involved in any way you can to fight it.”

Volunteers will fill out a form with the person’s name, gender and birthdate to ensure people aren’t counted twice. If someone won’t give that information, a description of the person is written down.

Last year the count happened during the polar vortex, Reaume said, and 13 homeless people were found living outside without shelter.

“We have noticed that homelessness has been a bit more visible in Jackson more recently,” Bradley said. “It’s not always hiding under bridges or in forests, some of the places we’ve thought in the past. It’s right downtown. That’s all the more reason a bigger group might be more helpful to find as many as we can to ensure that the funds that we need are able to come in.”

Last year, HUD gave the county $824,000 in funding, Reaume said. The grant money is competitive, so the more data and the more documentation about community need that they can provide HUD, the better, she said.

“We’ve done pretty good with keeping what we have,” Reaume said. “We try to add to it if there’s an opportunity each year.”

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