Count Us In 2015: The Results

On March 12, 2015, King County’s Committee to End Homelessness released its report on the 5th Annual Count Us In event, a point-in-time count of homeless and unstably housed young people in King County.  The event was sponsored by United Way of King County and brought together Teen Feed and 30 other King County youth service providers to outreach to and survey youth experiencing homelessness and housing instability.  The survey found 824 homeless youth and young adults in King County on the day of the event, January 21, 2015. 

This year’s count demonstrates a 6% increase over 2014’s Count Us In findings, in which 777 youth were identified as homeless or unstably-housed. The committee attributed this increase to improved survey administration as a result of a greater number of participating sites and more young adult shelter beds being available. Click Here to read the Count Us In 2015 report in its entirety.
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“Even one homeless young person is too many and having the most reliable count of youth experiencing the crisis of homelessness strengthens our community’s response,” said Mark Putnam, Director of the Committee to End Homelessness in King County.

Statistics obtained through Count Us In provide important information about youth homelessness to help improve the ability of agencies like Teen Feed to most effectively help youth in need achieve stability.

Teen Feed’s 2015 Count Us In activities included a warm Teen Feed meal, extended drop-in hours with games and movies, an overnight shelter, and even a midnight snack at the Seattle Vineyard in the University District. Special thanks to Epiphany Parish of Seattle for preparing a delicious dinner, Genya Shimkin & Friends for preparing fun midnight snacks, and Top Pot Doughnuts in Wedgwood and Einstein Bagels for an early morning treat. Special thanks to Human Rights Campaign Seattle for doing a deep clean of the Vineyard in preparation for Count Us In activities as part of their MLK Day Volunteer service project. Check out images from Teen Feed’s 2015 Count Us activities below…

“Count Us In provides invaluable opportunity to survey young people in need in our community” shared Teen Feed’s Executive Director Tabitha Jensen. She adds, “The information collected from youth through Count Us In enables us to best identify the needs of young people and informs our efforts to provide them with the resources and support they need to achieve stability.”

Thank You to all of our partners, volunteers, supporters, and the United Way for helping make 2015 Count Us In possible! To learn more, please reach us at 206.949.1092 or info@teenfeed.org.

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