The Annual Boston Homeless Census.
To end chronic homelessness, we need to understand the scope of the problem.
To do that, each year the City of Boston conducts a Homeless Census, where we tally the number of people living on the street, in shelters, or in living situations other than permanent housing. For the first time, SPH received a dedicated area for our Medical Campus volunteers to survey. We will be led by Jake Sullivan, assistant vice president in the Office of Government and Community Affairs at Boston University, and Katie King (CAS’06, SPH’13), interim director of intergovernmental relations in the mayor’s office
When: January 31st, 2018 at 8:30 PM (The snow date is February 28)
Where: Meet at City Hall Plaza
How: Register with BU Medical Campus Team
*If space is full, you can register as an individual with the city and note that you are with “BU SPH” and you may be placed with our group, however, we cannot guarantee that you will be assigned to our team.
Logistics
We will meet for the opening ceremony at City Hall Plaza at 8:30 PM where you will hear from the Mayor and see the hundreds of volunteers who make this vital activity possible. Around 9:30 PM we will be released to survey our designated area, which is located in Downtown Boston. We will all be on one team but might break up into 2 groups to cover our area efficiently. This is why it is important to provide a cell phone number so that we can find each other and give updates throughout the evening. It usually takes about an hour and a half to survey the area. Please dress accordingly.
About the Census
The Homeless Census counts people in two ways. We track how many people are using services, like emergency shelters, transitional housing, and treatment programs. At the same time, we collect information about household demographics, income level, family size, and the community of origin for each person.
Together, this data helps us understand who we are serving, and what gaps there are in our services. It helps us understand our priorities, so we can design even better policies. Census results also inform federal funding, and help measure progress in our efforts to prevent and end homelessness.
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Learn more: boston.gov/homelessness