January 14, 2009
Arlington Needs Volunteers for Tarrant County Homeless Count
Five Training Opportunities Available
Arlington needs approximately 75 volunteers to help conduct a comprehensive survey and street count of homeless persons in the city on Thursday, Jan. 29. Volunteers are asked to sign up at http://tchcoalition.org.
On Jan. 29, volunteers will conduct a street count of homeless individuals. In conjunction with the cities of Arlington, Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the annual Everyone Counts/Homeless Count Night program is led by the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition.
The staging area for Arlington volunteers is the Arlington Human Services Building, Conference Room A, located at 501 W. Sanford St. The count will begin at 9 p.m. and conclude at 2 a.m.
According to David Zappasodi, Arlington’s assistant director of Community Services, the count is important because it helps the county improve planning and funding for services that transition individuals out of homelessness. The count conducted in 2008 revealed 398 homeless individuals in Arlington and 3,577 in Tarrant County.
“With the most up-to-date data available, we can determine the appropriate level of federal funding needed to facilitate solutions to end chronic homelessness in Tarrant County,” Zappasodi said.
Arlington will offer several one-hour training opportunities for volunteers. Training will be conducted on the following dates at the Arlington Human Services Building in Conference Room 110: 11 a.m. Jan. 16 and Jan. 23, noon Jan. 21 and 6 p.m. Jan. 27. An additional training opportunity will be provided on the night of the count at 7 p.m.
For more information about the Jan. 29 homeless count, call the Arlington Housing Authority at 817-276-6772 or e-mail Lanesha.Linzy@arlingtonhousing.us. David Zappasodi can be reached at 817-276-6790 or David.Zappasodi@arlingtonhousing.us.
