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Counting The Homeless In The Cold

Posted at 10:40 PM, Jan 30, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-30 22:48:08-05

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) – On one of the coldest nights in Lexington in some time, more than 100 volunteers went outside trying to make sure everyone finds a shelter.

It’s part of LexCount’s mission. But the volunteers’ goal is to not only count the homeless population, but to get them inside and out of this cold weather.

“Just the weather conditions, it becomes life or death,” said Polly Ruddick.

Ruddick is the director for the city’s Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention.

She helps oversee LexCount, which counts the homeless population, and helps to measure the effectiveness of city services.

“Hopefully we don’t find anybody, hopefully we were able to get them all sheltered last night and today,” said Ruddick.

More than 700 did stay in shelters on Tuesday night, which likely means more accurate data for the city. But for Ruddick, there is one key objective.

“Because our goal is to, actually, if we find someone, to put them in shelter,” said Ruddick.

Click here for more information about the Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention.