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Students and community members will help the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority in Westwood determine the number of homeless individuals in the area Wednesday, as part of the organization’s survey of L.A. County’s homeless population and demographics.
This will be the first year that Westwood has opted to participate in the larger survey initiative since it began in 2005, said Stephanie Inyama, the organization’s regional coordinator for Greater West Los Angeles.
Los Angeles has the nation’s second-highest homeless population after New York City, totaling more than 53,000 individuals, according to a 2013 report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Westwood project will span between Sunset Boulevard to the north and Santa Monica Boulevard to the south, and from the 405 Freeway to the border of Beverly Hills, said Steve Sann, chair of the Westwood Community Council and an organizer of the Westwood project.
The biennial project functions as a census survey for homeless individuals, Sann said.
The results from the survey are used to prioritize and allocate money to fund homeless services, Inyama said. Volunteers will participate in a mandatory training session Wednesday before going out in groups of four.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority will lead an additional, youth-specific survey Tuesday, Inyama said. The organization will work with homeless youth, aged 18 to 24, to identify areas where other homeless young adults might be living, she said.
Anyone interested in volunteering to participate in the event Wednesday can sign up online.
Compiled by Eliza Blackorby, Bruin contributor.
Correction: The survey project is biennial, not biannual.