Lewis County will hold two Homeless Connect events in 2025: one in the Twin Cities on Friday, Jan. 31, and one in East Lewis County on Monday, Feb. 3.
Homeless Connect is held during the annual point-in-time (PIT) count to bring housing and homeless service providers to a central location for easy access for those needing their services.
The Twin Cities event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31, at the Blue Pavilion at 1909 South Gold St., Centralia.
The East Lewis County event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 3, at the Bob Lyle Community Center at 700 Main Ave., Morton.
“These events will be ‘One Stop’ events for supportive services, with multiple community service providers offered together, including veteran services, domestic violence providers, behavioral health providers and community-based organizations. Lunch and haircuts will be provided,” Lewis County said in a news release.
The Salvation Army, as the lead agency for Lewis County, is responsible for planning and conducting a PIT count of unsheltered persons who meet the definition established by the Washington state Department of Commerce of “unsheltered homeless person,” defined as a “person residing in a place not meant for human habitation such as cars, parks, sidewalks, abandoned buildings (or) on the street,” Lewis County said in the news release.
The Salvation Army is responsible for submitting PIT count data as required by the Washington state Department of Commerce.
This data is collected nationwide, providing estimates of homelessness and demographic characteristics of people experiencing homelessness, according to the news release.
“Collecting this data is vital and enables the opportunity to understand the causes of homelessness and design more effective policies, programs and homeless system responses to achieve progress toward reducing homelessness,” Lewis County said in the news release.
In 2024, the PIT counted 130 homeless residents in Lewis County, down from 153 in 2023 but still up from 120 in 2022.
Of the 130 homeless residents counted in the 2024 PIT, 40 were unsheltered and 90 were sheltered in an emergency shelter, transitional housing or Safe Haven supportive housing, according to the report published by the Washington state Department of Commerce.
More than 250 community members accessed the Twin Cities Homeless Connect event in 2024, which kicked off the year’s count, though not all were unhoused, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
The count is an imperfect measurement — by limitations of identifying everyone in the expansive county who struggles with permanent housing, by the fact that it’s a snapshot in time and may not count those who couch hop or otherwise frequently transition living spaces or by the definition of homelessness, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
