Volunteers across the Santa Clarita Valley came together to count the number of homeless people spread out across the city as part of an annual count throughout Los Angeles County.

Organized by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the homeless count aims to get a point-in-time, unduplicated count of the homeless population on a single night in Santa Clarita. The number includes people who are experiencing homelessness on both sheltered and unsheltered areas.

“It’s difficult because it’s a visual count, and you’re driving, you’re not walking, and a lot of people are well hidden,” said Bridge to Home Director of Programs Chris Najarro. “The other challenge is families, typically families are not visible, and so it’s hard to really get an accurate count of how many families are experiencing homelessness.”

The count took place on Wednesday, Jan. 23, with volunteers gathered for training at 7 p.m. and the count itself, which started at 8 p.m. Volunteers were told to report at two sites for training: The Centre on Centre Point Parkway, and the Mental Health America of Los Angeles, Military Resource Center on Railroad Avenue.

“I’m trying to be part of our community, and I’m trying to get my sons and family and neighbors to care what’s going on in the community,” said Santa Clarita resident Jerry Dougherty.

Volunteers were paired into teams and assigned to drive to different designated areas to gather visual tallies homeless individuals within the Santa Clarita Valley. Those who volunteered found themselves counting for approximately three to four hours.

Both the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the County of Los Angeles use the results to determine the amount of funds that will go towards programs designed to assist the homeless populations in local areas. City officials and community partners then take this information and use it to plan out future programs and initiatives to help the homeless community, according to a report from the City of Santa Clarita.

The homeless count has been an annual event since 2005 and has been coordinated by LAHSA in different counties across the greater Los Angeles area. The count includes 85 cities as well as the unincorporated areas, not including the cities of Glendale, Long Beach, and Pasadena. Last year’s count came out to a grand total of 57,794 homeless individuals and their families, including 331 individuals solely from Santa Clarita.

“We know the importance of making sure we have an accurate count for the homeless count because (there are) a lot of funds out there,” said Santa Clarita resident volunteer Phillip Solomon during the count. “Depending on how many homeless you have in your community, the more funds that become available to our community, so that we could help service them.”

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