MACH to hold annual homeless enumeration TUESDAY | News

Montgomery, AL (January 28, 2013) — The Mid-Alabama Coalition for the Homeless (MACH) is conducting its annual homeless enumeration on the evening of Tuesday, January 29, 2013.  The enumeration is MACH’s annual point-in-time count required for local community agencies to receive McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance funds distributed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  A point-in-time count is an unduplicated count on a single night of the people in a community who are experiencing homelessness that includes both sheltered and unsheltered populations. 

During the annual January enumeration, MACH volunteers and staff members canvass the streets of Montgomery in search of unsheltered homeless individuals and families.  Teams of volunteers target different areas of the City where the homeless are known to congregate and conduct interviews with each person to determine their background and needs.  The teams also distribute food, hygiene items, blankets, and coats to those encountered on the streets.   

“The homeless enumeration is an important tool in helping MACH and its member agencies determine the state of homelessness in our area,” said Molly Stone, Executive Director of the Mid-Alabama Coalition for the Homeless.  “This annual snapshot of the homeless population is an opportunity to identify needs and gaps in our local homeless assistance system.” 

In January 2012, MACH volunteers found 144 unsheltered individuals on the streets of Montgomery.  An additional 507 individuals stayed in local shelters on the night of the January 2012 count, for a total of 651 men, women, and children on the streets and in shelters in Montgomery.

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About the Mid-Alabama Coalition for the Homeless

The Mid-Alabama Coalition for the Homeless serves as a vehicle to secure HUD funding and provides support to and resources for organizations that provide services for the homeless in the River Region. Founded in 2001, MACH is the Continuum of Care for a five-county area and is responsible for devising methods to alleviate homelessness, providing services to the homeless and to those at risk of becoming homeless, and conducting a yearly survey of homeless individuals within its geographic boundaries.  MACH is the leader for the Montgomery community in efforts to plan, coordinate, and develop resources with the goal of ending homelessness.

Information Source: MACH