Homelessness Survey Seeks Fairfax County Resident Input

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA --George Mason University students are partnering with Fairfax County's Office to Prevent and End Homelessness to survey residents on homelessness.

The GMU survey asks people about their interactions with homeless people in the county. The findings will be go to Dean Klein, director of the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness, who will share the findings with the board of directors. The survey closes on April 8.

"This stood out to me because I thought it would be good to bring awareness to this issue which affects the community, said Giovonny Bland, a GMU student involved in the project. "When we get our results, the goal is to determine what actions could help rectify this issue."

Ten years ago, the county adopted a strategic plan to end homelessness, and data shows the number of homeless people has declined. On January 25, 2017, Fairfax County and Falls Church counted 964 homeless people, a 9 percent decline from the previous year. The plan involves preventing homelessness, increasing affordable housing, delivering social services, and creating a community partnership to ensure accountability and funding.

Access the survey on homelessness here.

Image via Wikipedia Creative Commons