Each year, volunteers spread out across Los Angeles to count the number of people experiencing homelessness in the county.

Sycamores, through our partnership with the Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority (LAHSA), is the Regional Coordinator for the Youth Count that takes place in LA County’s San Gabriel Valley. Dedicated Sycamores staff and volunteers were among the teams participating in the count this past January. They planned and coordinated how to best reach encampments in the area in order to do outreach.

The count is a powerful advocacy tool that helps create solutions to end youth homelessness, since the estimate of the number of unhoused youth will be used to help determine resource allocation and funding in LA County.

The teams counted youth in greater numbers this year, than ever in the past. As a result of this increase, we hope additional funding will be made available to help organizations like Sycamores find solutions and further support homeless youth to find safe housing and create a better life.