Armed with flash lights and note books, dozens of volunteers took to the streets of Brentwood on the night of Jan. 28 as part of a bi-annual homeless count led by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and was counted in the U.S. Census statistics.
The Brentwood Community Council (BCC) sponsored the count and played a major role in recruiting volunteers to successfully take on the complex effort.
“The Brentwood count ended up with 70 actual persons counted on the street,” said Michelle Bisnoff, Chair of BCC’s Outreach Committee. “However, there was a far higher amount of vehicles and RVs being used as shelter, including many veterans parking overnight on VA property [since the VA lot above Wilshire Blvd. was counted as a part of Brentwood].”
According to Bisnoff, Brentwood may actually have a final homeless count of roughly 150 people after taking into account all of the necessary calculations and estimates.
“The government uses a ratio which counts each vehicle as two to three people,” Bisnoff said. “Also, there is an encampment of people just below the Skirball on the Department of Sanitation property that was counted last week, and the total is likely to be 30 or more.”
After collaborating as a neighborhood and receiving assistance from political offices, the BCC was able to efficiently finish the endeavor and analyze the resulting statistics. Bisnoff said that the local support remained steadfast throughout the entire process.
“Brentwood had a very strong showing of resident-volunteers for this effort and tremendous support from every single elected official for our area, especially (County Supervisor) Sheila Kuehl, (Assembly member) Richard Bloom, (Council member) Mike Bonin, and Mayor Eric Garcetti,” Bisnoff said. “They were essential to making it possible.”
Bisnoff has said that the BCC “found it surprising that it was Brentwood’s first time participating” and that it was “very important to sponsor the homeless count.”
For more information on the BCC, visit brentwoodcommunitycouncil.org.
