Approximately 30 Malibu volunteers came out to participate in the 2020 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count on Wednesday morning, Jan. 22.
Volunteers, who were asked to arrive by 7 a.m., were divided into groups of four before receiving an hour-long orientation. They then got their assignments.
According to volunteer Margo Neal, who was on a team assigned to check out parts of Encinal and Decker canyons and the land side of PCH up to the Ventura county line, there was very little activity; in fact, the group came back with no counts of homeless people or tents, although there was one vehicle spotted that was known to be attached to a homeless person.
The count is sponsored annually by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Last year, 154 homeless people were counted within Malibu city limits during the January count. According to Public Safety Manager Susan Dueñas, who spoke to The Malibu Times in December, there averaged about 62 homeless people in Malibu each day during the first 11 months of 2019, compared to 86 in 2018.
Margo Neal is the proofreader for The Malibu Times.