Volunteers for Mountain of Faith Ministries will be on the streets Tuesday night to determine the size of the homeless population in Warren County.

The annual Point-in-Time Count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless people on a single night in January.

It is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to get a snapshot, or view, of the number of homeless people in each community. Mountain of Faith Ministries is directing the effort to count the homeless in the Warren County area.

The results of the count and can have an effect on funding for homeless assistance programs.

Gathering detail info

When volunteers find a homeless person, they ask them several questions — how long have they been homeless, the last time they visited a hospital emergency room, the last time they were hospitalized, and if they have spent time in a shelter.

“We’re going to go to the homeless shelters that are here in Warren County, and then we’re going to check in the Redwood area and the surrounding area — the bridges, different areas where we know people are homeless and they spend the night,” Mountain of Faith executive director Betty James said.

This will be James’ first count as director.

“I’m going to go out there and do the best that I can,” she said. “I’m going to check the area and get a head count of who’s out there.”

James said volunteers are needed to help with the count.

“We have some volunteers, but we need more,” James said. “All they need to do is show up at Mountain of Faith at 5:30 (p.m.). We will begin the count at 6.”

Anyone interested in volunteering, she said can call Mountain of Faith at 601-501-4508.