It is that time of year again.  Every year in January, across the nation, communities come together to gather information about the scope of homelessness within their own communities.  This organized effort, called a Point In Time Count, helps us as service providers figure out how large the problem is, where it is, and what it looks like.  Each community figures out the best way to reach the homeless in their towns and survey them about their needs – while using the opportunity to connect them to services they might not otherwise be able to reach.

Generally, across America, the homeless youth population is missed.  We’ve talked about it before: they’re invisible.  They’re not turning up at adult shelters or soup kitchens.  They’re not in the homeless camps.  They’re not begging on the street corners.  They’re hidden.  For good reason – they’re often afraid that identification would mean being returned to homes where they felt unsafe, uncomfortable, or rejected, or they don’t consider themselves homeless at all.  They’re camping in a car.  Sleeping at a buddies.  Couch surfing.  Anything but homeless.  Its one of the reasons, nationally and locally, that we struggle to identify – to quantify – the problem, particularly among folks under 25.

In Fairbanks, we’re working to get better ideas of those numbers.  The school district does a wonderful job of identifying youth in school without the benefit of stable housing and family support.  Community agencies identify those they know who are homeless and on their own.  Fairbanks Youth Advocates – and Fairbanks as a whole – wants to do better.  We believe that getting the most accurate count possible will help us to represent the needs of young homeless, and to better know how to meet those needs.

Saturday, January 26th, Fairbanks Youth Advocates, as part of the Fairbanks Homeless and Housing Coalition, is joining other youth-serving agencies to reach out to youth where they’re hanging out during the day, and invite them to join us for an evening of free stuff, food, and great music at the FYA Youth Shelter (547 7th Ave).

The event, called In From The Cold, will feature artists Jesse Hobbs, Circle The Sun, The Naked Men, Raif Kennedy, and Joe Ransdell-Greene.  The event will start at 6pm and shut down at 9pm.  All are welcome.  We emphasize that this is not a fundraiser, but an outreach event, targeted to our young homeless. Any young folks (under 21) needing shelter are invited to stay the night.

We remind folks that the MACS Transit has donated free bus service to all of Fairbanks that day.