(Graettinger)– Upper Des Moines Opportunity next week will be conducting a count of the homeless population in a 12-county area they serve. Tanya Thelen (tee-lin), UDMO Housing Services Coordinator, says they’re required to do the count each year by federal officials…
“The reason this count is important is because it directly affects the funding streams that we get for our counties and our service area. So we want to make sure that we’re getting those counts in and really try to get a good grip on how many individuals are out there that are experiencing homelessness right now. That’s definitely going to help us down the line.”
Thelen says the count will be conducted next week, between January 23rd and the 27th…
“What they’re really after is they want to know how many individuals are outdoors on the evening of the 25th of January. So they really want us to be focused on one evening, you know, that one overnight evening, however sometimes it’s hard to connect with individuals so I’m hoping that if we spread it out over a couple days prior and a couple days after that’s going to help us get a better idea of numbers.”
Thelen explains what happens once the data is collected…
“We go back and we report all of the information from our counts into our Homeless Management Information System and from there the folks at Institute for Community Alliances take all of those numbers and they report those back directly to HUD.”
Thelen adds they’re asking for some help from the public…
“If you see somebody that looks like they’re experiencing homelessness, or you feel like you know somebody, please reach out and give me a call. My phone number is 515-269-7105.”
Thelen notes they cannot count those who are homeless but may be living with a friend or family member.
The homelessness count will be taking place in Buena Vista, Calhoun, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Hamilton, Humboldt, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Sac, Webster, and Wright counties.
