* Ten percent of all America’s homeless are veterans.
* More than 400,000 children spent a week or more without a home last year.
* A nationwide homeless count is done every other January. Two years ago, on a night in late January, well over 600,000 Americans were without a home.
* In the homeless count in 2009, there were 4,473 homeless persons in South Carolina.
* The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that there are 50,000 street homeless youth, that is, young people who live on the streets, in abandoned buildings, in the woods, in cars and not in some sort of shelter.
The next national Point-in-Time Homeless Count will be held the last week of January. To properly assist homeless persons, accurate numbers are needed. Volunteers are needed all over the country, including in Chesterfield County. A two-hour training session for volunteers will be held at 2:00 on Thursday January 10 in the DSS Commons Room in Chesterfield. For more information, call the First United Methodist Church office at 537-7002 or the Chesterfield County United Way at 623-5274.
On a personal note, I have been asked to play a leadership role in the January homeless count in our county. Though Chesterfield County does not have a homeless shelter, the county always has homeless persons. Two years ago I spoke with a couple who lived in a trailer less than a mile from the Cheraw CVS. They had lived for many months without electricity or running water. They fit the definition of homelessness because of the inadequacy of their living quarters. Other homeless people in our area are more visible. You and I see them walking up and down our main thoroughfares or coasting along on old bicycles. I hope you will join me for the national Point-in-Time Homeless Count and receive training on January 10.
Paul Wood