It is bitter cold: Counting the homeless

It is bitter cold out there for the homeless. Volunteers and social service workers will fan out in the city of Akron tomolrrow with a mission to count the homeless population. The counting begins at midnight and ends at 11:59 p.m.

There were 214 last year in Akron and 163 the year before. The total for Ohio was 12,700 or eleven for every 10,000 persons.

The Point-in-Time Count is a national effort to count the number of people who are without homes, according to Sue Pierson, chair of the Akron/Summit County Continuum of Care for the Homeless.

“We don’t even ask people’s names,” Pierson said. “We ask them for their first and last initials and birth date, so if someone is encountered two times, we can take them out.”

Surveyors gather information on individuals’ sex, race and whether they have a long-term disability.

“We want to find out what are the things that are causing people to become homeless,” Pierson said.

This year, there also will be more of an effort to determine the veteran status of the homeless and to determine how many young people are on the streets.

“We know there are lots of kids out there living on the streets, so we want to make sure we can get the training and programs they need,” Pierson said

Don Roese, a retired Beacon Journal photographer, could give us a better idea. He goes out each week among the 214 people living outdoors — in tents, under tarps at camps, under bridges, in doorways or inside abandoned buildings and vehicles.

Roese is among at the Peter Maurin Center volunteers who go out one evenig each week to bring food, clothing and blankets to them. The center at 1096 S. Main St. is a gathering place were the homeless can go to find food, clothing, friendship and respite from the bitter cold. A number of church groups provide food and clothing on a regular basis.

If you have a blanket or clothing in a closet somewhere that you are not using, drop it off.