How volunteers will count Los Angeles County's homeless population

Hope the Mission's maintenance supervisor Kelsin Orellana knows firsthand the importance of accuracy in Los Angeles' annual homeless count. 

"I spent two years and seven months on the street in a tent," Orellana said. 

After years of living on the street, Orellana said Hope the Mission pulled him up and gave him stability, a job and a future. He's one of the nonprofit's success stories, someone who was among the tens of thousands of people volunteers tallied during the annual homeless count. 

Now, he volunteers to do the counting.

"It's really important because there's a lot of people suffering out there," he said. 

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority has faced scrutiny over the accuracy of its homeless count for the last several years. LAHSA said it is always working to improve the count. This year, they have volunteers using the same digital app, counting tools and statistical methods in 2025, but claim they have implemented better maps than in the past few years. 

"We've built a lot of redundancies into this process to make sure we're getting the most accurate homeless count possible," xxx said. "The homeless count is an observation count. Volunteers will record on their data sheets any individuals that they see experiencing homelessness. They also record any cars, makeshift shelters, tents, things like that, they see."

LAHSA has also partnered with USC to run a statistical model that produces the estimated homeless population. 

"Homelessness is a housing crisis and humanitarian crisis," said Ivet Samvelyan, a vice president at Hope the Mission. 

Samvelyan will join dozens of volunteers on Tuesday night who will count the homeless residents in Canoga Park. The organization depends on the county's annual homeless count for critical funding to support its interim housing and permanent housing projects currently in the works. 

The nonprofit receives $89 per person in need of interim housing. 

After two consecutive counts showing a decline in homelessness, Samvelyan said this year's count may reveal whether funding cuts have already set the city and county back. 

"We are anticipating an increase in homelessness in our community," she said. 

LAHSA said it has more than 4,250 registered volunteers.