PORT TOWNSEND – Jefferson County, along with the rest of the country, will participate in the annual point-in-time homeless count the week of Jan. 25.
Olympic Community Action Programs will lead efforts to attempt to count every person in the county who is homeless or living in substandard accommodations, said deForest Walker, Olympic Community Action Program housing resources manager.
However, Walker agrees the point-in-time count will not uncover the entirety of the homeless problem in Jefferson.
“The count is not going to include all the people who are homeless on that day,” said Walker.
“It won’t be as high as it really is.”
Last year, the point-in-time count came up with about 200 homeless people in Jefferson County.
In 2005, 142 homeless people were counted.
Walker said the count is necessary to get a handle on what the extent of the problem is.
“It’s so we’ll be able to see trends,” Walker said.
“How can we in Jefferson County use that information to make our community a stronger and better place?”
