Written by Denise Miller, Firesteel Advocacy Coordinator

Each year, volunteers across the country fan out through their communities to count people who are sleeping outdoors. 3,117 homeless men, women and children were out in the cold in King County between 2 and 5 a.m. today.

Real Change, a homeless empowerment project and newspaper based in Seattle, organizes a “Sounding of the Gong” event the morning of the Point in Time Count to bring attention to the problem of homelessness. I spoke with Real Change Founding Director Tim Harris about the count results, which reflected a 14 percent increase from 2013 in the number of people sleeping outdoors.

I also interviewed Rachael Myers, Executive Director of the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, about advocacy efforts to end homelessness in Washington state. I hope you’ll join Real Change, the Housing Alliance, Firesteel and hundreds of other advocates at Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day on Jan. 28 in Olympia. This is a great opportunity to meet your legislators and encourage them to support policies that will end homelessness.

The King County One Night Count is organized by the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness. Read more about the 2013 One Night Count on Firesteel:

• Everyone Counts: Including Vehicle Residents Hiding in Plain Sight
• Everyone Counts: Homeless Youth & Young Adult 2013 Count Us In
• Everyone Counts: Join A Point in Time Count & Provide Important Community Data
• Everyone Counts: “Walking Through Bedrooms” as First Time One Night Count Volunteer
• Everyone Counts: The Difference Is Night and Day Between Homeless Counts