Volunteers Take to Lake Elsinore, Wildomar Streets to Count Local Homeless

Riverside County social welfare officials will be joined by several hundred volunteers Tuesday in an attempt to gauge the number of homeless people within the county.

The Department of Public Social Services’ annual “Point-in-Time Homeless Count” began before 8 a.m. and will continue into the afternoon, when census-takers will canvass multiple locations.

Last year, 533 individuals volunteered their time to conduct the census, which is mandated under a U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development grant. The count will be split between a street-level operation and a “service- based survey,” officials said.

During the street walk, volunteers will visit parks, alleyways, overpasses and encampments to estimate the number of people “living in places unfit for human habitation,” according to DPSS spokeswoman Mary Parks. She said the service survey will entail visiting shelter locations.

The 2015 homeless survey identified 1,587 people living on the streets and 883 in shelters countywide, according to DPSS.

Of the unsheltered homeless counted, 51 were in Lake Elsinore and 10 were in Wildomar,according to county data.

The overall total -- 2,470 -- compares to roughly 6,200 people counted four years ago, agency figures show.

Volunteers include college students, nonprofit workers, members of community service clubs and affiliates of faith-based organizations.

Information about the survey is available at www.RiversideHomelessCounts.com .

— City News Service contributed to this report. Image via Shutterstock.