You can’t count homeless people by knocking on their doors. That’s why more than 100 volunteers will fan out across Clallam County the weeks of Jan. 21 and 28 seeking people who have no sure, safe or permanent place to spend the night.
In Port Angeles, the annual Point in Time census will start before dawn and end long after dark Jan. 25, counting people who sleep beneath bus benches, below bridges, in tents, cars or emergency shelters – or no place – two nights in a row.
The census also will count people who are “couch surfing” with friends or relatives, and those who are living in severely substandard housing such as unheated trailers.
Some of the people will be counted when they visit places like the Salvation Army soup kitchen, the state Department of Social and Health Services, or the Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim food banks
Other groups, like the Makah tribe and, perhaps, Peninsula Community Mental Health Center, will host community meals where they’ll survey diners for homelessness.
Volunteers also will offer free food and warm clothing at places like the Oak Street bus station in downtown Port Angeles and the Emergency Outreach Center at 535 E. First St.
But many will go to the haunts of homeless people, like camps along Ennis Creek and near North Masters Road east of town.
