On Jan. 28, homeless folks should stand up and be counted. They’ll have two opportunities, county-wide, to do so.

Veterans groups and those who work in the realm of homeless services are asking that York County residents who don’t have a permanent place to live, to drop by one of two locations to be counted that day, either in Sanford or Biddeford.

Why?

Because, proponents of the survey say, funds are allocated to provide services to the homeless, based on how many there are. If no one is counted or few are counted, then there’s less money allocated for resources here.

The Point in Time survey is a program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and administered in Maine by the Maine State Housing Authority.

This year marks the fifth Point in Time survey conducted in York County in as many years after a coalition of veterans groups came together to make sure it happened.

Amy Marcotte of The Vet Center, said prior to the Point in Time counts, she attempted to secure a housing voucher for a homeless veteran, only to be told that as far as the government was concerned, there were no homeless veterans in York County.

And while veterans groups figure largely in the counting process, the Point in Time count is designed to count all homeless people.

This year the count will be conducted at mobile units at Seeds of Hope, 35 South St. in Biddeford and in the parking lot of Napa Auto Parts, located downtown at the intersection of Main and Elm streets in Sanford. The count will be 4-7 p.m., Jan. 28. Folks will be greeted with pizza and hot beverages, clothing, food items, ditty bags with personal supplies and gift cards, Marcotte said.

In York County in 2014, 150 homeless people were counted, according to Marcotte, up from 60 in 2010.. Statewide, according to the Maine State Housing Authority website, 1,175 people were identified as homeless; classified as either sleeping in emergency homeless shelters or going unsheltered.

Homeless advocates say it is vital that homeless people drop by either location to be counted.

“It’s how they make their decisions,” on funding for homeless programs, Marcotte said of HUD.

Jim Bachelder of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Sanford, who, along with Marcotte, helped initiate the Point in Time survey in York County five years ago, said it used to be conducted at specific times over the course of several days, which allowed for volunteers to travel to the outer reaches of the county to count. This year, however, both he and Marcotte say the MSHA has said that the Point in Time survey is to be conducted only on Jan. 28.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].