Community and government leaders have teamed up with Southern California’s faith communities to try to ensure homeless people are counted for the 2010 Census.
Joel John Roberts says why it's important for community and goverment leaders to work together. (Video shot by Ivana Dukanovic)
Faith Matters is organizing faith groups to help the Census Bureau get an accurate count of homeless people so Los Angeles receives necessary resources to help address them.
Census data determines 85 percent of federal grant funding for programs like Medicaid and foster care for the next ten years, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). For every person not counted, Los Angeles loses more than $1,100 in federal resources per year.
Joel John Roberts, CEO of PATH Partners, stressed how important it was for the community to come together to make sure every person is counted.
“We think it’s really important for faith groups to be involved in a really, crucial social issue that is also a moral and spiritual issue here in Los Angeles, and that is homelessness,” Roberts said.
Janet Kelly talks about the cardboard campout’s aim at sending a message to the community about homelessness. (Video shot by Ivana Dukanovic)
PATH Partners is a family of agencies that helps people in need; Faith Matters is one of their initiatives.
One way Faith Matters is raising awareness is by organizing a “cardboard campout.” They are inviting members of the community to camp out in cardboard boxes in order to raise awareness about homelessness.
“We want people to come out and spend a day on the streets to see how difficult and hard it is,” said Janet Kelly, executive director of PATH.
Other groups are also getting involved. The CCF is investing $1.5 million to help communities reach out to the homeless and others that get overlooked in the Census. Faith Matters’ work is also supported by a grant from the CCF.
