SAFFORD — A survey to try and get an accurate count of the homeless in Graham County will take place this week.
Gila Valley Samaritan Home is conducting the annual Point-in-Time count of unhoused people in Graham and Greenlee counties on Jan. 28-30.
“We only have three days this year, so we’re hoping we’ll be able to cover a lot of ground in that short amount of time,” said Sue Ciacimino, executive director of Gila Valley Samaritan Home.
The PIT count will take place at three locations:
- Gila Valley Samaritan Home, in Safford, Jan. 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Bylas reststop on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, Jan. 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Nolene’s Country Store, in Peridot, Jan. 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Volunteers will also conduct street outreach as well. And those who reach out to Samaritan Home to take part in the survey will receive a package of useful items, including gloves, hats, socks, hygiene kits and snacks.
The goal is to obtain as close to accurate a count of sheltered and unsheltered persons in Graham and counties experiencing homelessness on a single night. The more accurate the count, the better able Samaritan Home will be to obtain resources to help.
Gila Valley Samaritan Home is a daily respite and information center for the area’s homeless.
Over its first two years of operation, the nonprofit organization has:
- Served 7,349 meals
- Supplied 410 food bags
- Assisted with 1,616 loads of laundry
- Provided 2,367 showers
- Passed out 438 hygiene kits
- Assisted 35 people get into detox and rehab facilities
- Delivered hundreds of food boxes
- Suppled nearly 100 haircuts
- Hosted and attended resource fairs
- Provided 35 Arizona ID cards for work and housing
