Volunteers will be fanning out across the Valley on Tuesday morning, to count the number of homeless people, on the streets.
The annual count takes place between 6-9 a.m., with hundreds of volunteers, including teams from city, county and state agencies, faith groups, community groups, along with businesses and private residents involved.
The volunteers will canvass all the areas that have been identified where homeless people live unsheltered, on the streets.
The street count is a critical element in securing millions of dollars of Continuum of Care funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development every year. Results of the count are used in the Maricopa Association of Governments application to HUD to support homeless assistance programs.
All the cities and towns in Maricopa County conduct the street counts on the same day. Since 1999, the area has received almost $270 million in such aid.