FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, January 16, 2020
Contact: Catherine McGeeney, Director of Communications: (502) 509-7818
Volunteers Needed for 2020 Homeless Street Count on January 30
LOUISVILLE, KY (January 16, 2020) – The Coalition for the Homeless has scheduled the 2020 Homeless Street Count for Thursday, January 30, from 4:30am-6:30am. The goal of the annual Street Count is to verify the number of people sleeping outdoors in Metro Louisville, in emergency shelters, and in the city’s new low-barrier shelter.
“We welcome new and returning volunteers to join us at the Street Count, where teams will cover neighborhoods across Louisville to count people who have no choice but to sleep outdoors,” said Mary Frances Schafer, Director of Community Coordination for the Coalition. “We rely heavily on volunteers to get an accurate count of the most vulnerable Louisvillians.”
All volunteers must be over the age of 18, or aged 16-17 with a legal guardian also in attendance. Volunteers must register at www.louhomeless.org/street-count and attend a mandatory training session on Wednesday, January 29, from 6-7pm at Hotel Louisville. They will then meet at Hotel Louisville at 4:15am on Thursday, January 30, split into teams, and head out to their assigned neighborhoods together. After the count, volunteers are invited back to Hotel Louisville for a warm breakfast, provided by Aetna Better Health of Kentucky, and coffee, provided by Heine Brothers’.
Thanks to collaborative efforts and targeted funding, Louisville has successfully reduced the number of chronically homeless people and homeless veterans over the past several years. Since 2017, the Coalition’s collaborative effort to end homelessness among young adults aged 16-24 has reduced homelessness in that group by 78%.
For more information, visit louhomeless.org or call Erin Rutherford at (502) 636-9550 x204.
About the Coalition for the Homeless
The Coalition for the Homeless is a nonprofit organization with a mission to prevent and end homelessness in Louisville. The Coalition advocates for change, educates the public about the face of homelessness, and coordinates the work of their 30+ member agencies across the city. For more information, call (502) 636-9550, or find the Coalition online at www.louhomeless.org, www.facebook.com/LouHomeless, or www.twitter.com/LouHomeless.
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