Scott Burke/KJZZ
Tents line the sidewalk near the intersection of 12th Avenue and Madison Avenue in Phoenix in 2020.
The Maricopa Association of Governments is preparing for its annual survey of the region's homeless population, organizers said. ask the people for help.
The goal of the Point-in-Time Homelessness Survey is to reach as many people experiencing homelessness as possible throughout Maricopa County. MAG's Brian Gruters said hundreds of volunteers will be needed to join outreach workers fanning out across shelters, parks and alleys to conduct the count on Jan. 23.
“The more people that do this job, and the more people that are trained to do this job, the more reliable the data will be,” Gruters said.
The number of homeless people in the Phoenix area has increased by about 50% over the past five years, according to point-in-time data. Gruters said these numbers are critical to lawmakers and organizations trying to address homelessness.
“We need to make data-based decisions about how to address homelessness,” Gruters said. “We need to know the data to understand how much shelter to build and how much housing we need.”
If you are interested in volunteering, Contact your local coordinator through AZMAG.gov.
