Homeless Veterans To Be Counted In Riverside County

Riverside County wants to know how many U.S. military veterans are living on local streets, so on Jan. 29 counters will take to neighborhoods and tally the numbers up.

Under the auspices of the Veterans Assistance Leadership of Riverside County (V.A.L.O.R.) Task Force, created by the County Board of Supervisors, the 2014 "Point-in-Time Enumeration of Homeless Veterans" will be a one-day street-based and service-based unduplicated count and subpopulation survey of sheltered and unsheltered individuals to identify how many of them are U.S. veterans. 

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is contracting with the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS)(http://dpss.co.riverside.ca.us/Homeless.aspx) to lead the veteran count and survey effort in consultation with the Institute for Urban Initiatives (www.urban-initiatives.org) and in collaboration with the Housing and Homeless Coalition for Riverside County, according to county documents.

According to county documents, a primary intent behind homeless counts and surveys is to help determine whether or not a local homeless population is increasing or decreasing. The counts can help determine whether or not to end certain services, start new ones, or continue those currently offered, according to the documents.

The purpose of the V.A.L.O.R. Task Force is to support and assist veterans with quality of life issues such as homelessness, healthcare, education and job training, according to county documents. 

For more information and to sign-up to participate in the V.A.L.O.R. 2014 Point-in-Time Enumeration of Homeless Veterans, contact one of the following individuals:

Elizabeth Calanche, County of Riverside, ELCALANC@riversidedpss.org
Don Smith, Institute for Urban Initiatives, donsmith@urban-initiatives.org

Click here to read about the latest homeless counts for Lake Elsinore and Wildomar.