The nation collectively counts the homeless population together in January each year, but with such frigid temperatures during that month, sometimes they aren’t as accurate as they should be.
The United Way of Lamar County is helping out this Thursday, Aug 29, as they prepare to do a summer count of the homeless population here in Paris.
Jenny Wilson, Executive Director with United Way of Lamar County, said they are doing a mid-season count as part of the Texas Homeless Network.
“We will be apart of a bigger regional group of nine counties, and our volunteers will go out into the community to do a count this week,” she said.
Volunteers will be placed into four teams that will cover four quadrants of the area; and while they are out counting, they will also be gifting any homeless person they encounter with a goody bag.
“We will have socks, beef jerky, deodorant, water and other things in the bags that people can use. And they don’t have to be apart of the survey to get a bag either,” Wilson said.
Alongside hitting the streets, the volunteers will also be heading to Downtown Food Pantry and the Salvation Army.
“Officer Curtis Graham with the Paris Police was kind enough to take us around to different areas, so we know where to survey. We hope that with the warmer weather we can get a better idea of how many homeless people we have here,” she explained.
According to Wilson, the volunteers that will be helping with the survey count have undergone training to understand better how to approach those who are homeless in the community with dignity and understanding.
Wilson also said that with this second count for the year, local organizations are hoping to get a better look as to how many are living on the streets and how many may be couch surfing or doubling up in small accommodations.
“If anyone can spare some time to help put together the goody bags, we will be doing them on Wednesday,” Wilson said.
If you are wanting to help pack some bags you can contact United Way of Lamar County on 903-784-6642 for more information.
