LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Roughly 200 volunteers made their way around the city Wednesday night to assist with the annual 'LexCount' survey.
The survey is conducted by the city to collect information about the number of people experiencing homelessness.
Volunteers gathered at the Lexington Rescue Mission before heading out in teams to areas known to have camps of unsheltered people. They brought surveys and backpacks of resources for anyone they come across.
“It’s very important to have a good idea of who our street homeless are so we can get them in and get them to places like the Catholic Action Center or the Salvation Army or the Hope Center,” said Anne Vandervort, who has been participating as a volunteer in the count for more than 15 years.
Last year, LexCount found more than 800 people in Lexington were unsheltered, which was a 14% increase from 2022.
Local organizations are looking forward to having an updated idea of how they can work to improve the number of people in permanent housing in the city
“Without the data, it’s just anecdotal. And so the data really helps us to have some firm numbers about who’s experiencing homelessness and how we can help them,” said Laura Carr, executive director of Lexington Rescue Mission.
The city expects some preliminary data to be made public in the coming weeks, before it submits a complete report to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
