Every January, more than 900 volunteers in our area (including teams from Plymouth) do. After gathering at the Compass Center in Pioneer Square at 1:00 am for a cup of coffee and an energy bar, they venture out into the coldest, dampest, wee-est hours of Seattle’s wintry night, hard at work until 5:00 am.
Story by Kevin Duffy-Greaves, Housing Case Manager, Plymouth Housing Group
These hearty and dedicated volunteers are taking part in a very special event organized annually by the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness: the “One Night Count” (often referred to as “the Street Count”). The One Night Count is a point-in-time census of the number of people in King County found sleeping in parks, under bridges, in vehicles or simply on the streets.
The One Night Count is critical because it provides an accurate “snapshot” of homelessness in King County. These data help determine federal, state, and local funding for homelessness services and affordable housing and are powerful advocacy tools.
Last year, in the early morning hours of January 25, 2013, a total of 2,736 men, women, and children were found sleeping outside in King County.
This number highlights the extreme and immediate need for more affordable supportive housing in Seattle and King County. But it becomes especially compelling when we realize that the total number of people experiencing homelessness is undoubtedly higher, because thousands of people are likely to have found temporary housing inside in shelters or transitional facilities at the time the Street Count is taking place.
The 2014 One Night Count will take place on Friday, January 24, from 2:00am-5:00am. This year, like each year, Plymouth is recruiting and sending about twenty volunteers to take part. These staff members and their friends and families will survey Volunteer Park and Judkins Park in Seattle.
Participants will tell you that wandering through a city park during a freezing winter night is a sobering experience. Each one finishes the night with a deeper and more personal understanding of how de-humanizing it is to lack access to warm and safe shelter.
Click here for lots of ways you can support the 2014 One Night Count. For example, you can:
• Sign up to volunteer for the Count Friday, January 24th, from 2:00-5:00 a.m.
• Sign advocacy postcards that will be hand-delivered to leaders in Olympia.
• Attend a “Homelessness Advocacy 101” workshop.
• Sign up to receive advocacy alerts that will equip you to become an effective ally for issues of homelessness.
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January is an incredible month of awareness and advocacy for Plymouth. In addition to the One Night Count, a group of Plymouth staff and tenants will add their voices to those of other advocates at Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day in Olympia on January 28th. The theme of this year’s event (organized annually by the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance) is “…it all starts at home,” which connects the importance of a home to other basic needs in life, like having a steady job, positive learning outcomes, and good health.
Coming Next Month: Plymouth’s February e-Newsletter will feature firsthand reports from some of the members of Plymouth’s 2014 One Night Count and Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Day teams. Please check your inbox (and your spam folder!) and our blog at www.plymouthhousing.org/about-us/news for those inspiring stories.
Photo Credit: Jake Warga for the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness (used by permission).