Those on hand for a free community meal at Hope & Coffee in Tamaqua Wednesday evening were treated to plates heaped with spaghetti and topped with a mound of meatballs.

And while there, they could learn about the services available to those in need - housing assistance, food pantries, medical help and more.

The dinner was open to all, regardless of need, but corresponded with the annual Unsheltered Point in Time Count.

Through the count, volunteers from across the nation make contact with the homeless and others in need of assistance. They hit parking lots, walk train tracks and visit known camp sites where the homeless might be - and when they make contact, they ask, “Where did you stay on the night of Jan. 24?.”

The information is collected, and those without a place to stay are offered vouchers for shelter and given information on other help they can receive.

Every county in the United States is required to do so, and homeless tallies for that evening are forwarded to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In Schuylkill County, Shawn Frankenstein, housing coordinator for Service Access and Management, Pottsville, organizes volunteers and other events over a 3-day period.

Frankenstein said 17 teams were dispatched in the county Wednesday to locate the homeless. They spent time in places like Pottsville, Frackville, Mahanoy City and Tamaqua.

“We count the people who are in places unfit for human habitation - so cars, tents, a house without utilities,” he said. “A lady I talked to this morning lived in a barn. There are people out there, and it’s hard to imagine.”

For the most part, Schuylkill County’s homeless are “couch surfers,” Frankenstein said, or people who go from property to property to stay with friends or family.

“I think a lot, too, there are a lot more people staying in places without utilities, like people who are out of oil,” he said.

He was on hand for the dinner, and ready to provide helpful resource guides to anyone who asked.

Frankenstein commended the community groups and organizations who put together the meal.

“They always do a great job,” he said.

The dinner brought helpers from St. Luke’s University Health Network, Perla Enterprises, Tamaqua Area Chamber of Commerce, Tamaqua borough and Tamaqua Area Community Partnership. Representatives from the Tamaqua Salvation Army Service Center, Stokes Ministry of Tamaqua, Helping Harvest Food Bank and Schuylkill United Way were also on hand to assist and direct those in need to services.

It was the second year for the community dinner during the Unsheltered Point in Time Count, noted Micah Gursky, executive director of the Tamaqua Area Community Partnership.

Gursky said Frankenstein asked the community for its help in arranging an event on the day of the count. Holding a free community meal, Gursky said, was a good fit.

“So it was not only to do the Point in Time Count, but also to just bring people together, to have a nice meal together, get them to meet people they didn’t already know,” Gursky said.

Hope & Coffee graciously opened its doors for the event, he said, and many volunteers from community organizations, churches and service agencies turned out.

Volunteer Ann Ostergaard from the Tamaqua Area Chamber of Commerce doled out the pasta. She cooked it, too.

“It’s a secret recipe. You boil it in water,” she joked with one diner.

After dining, folks could pick up information on resources available, or grab food or toiletries like shampoo, deodorant - or even blankets.

Gursky said there has been talk of having community dinners a few times each year.

“Not just in January because it’s been fun, people have been responsive and it’s just fantastic - not just the people coming out to enjoy the meals, but the volunteers and the people who’ve donated food, time and resources,” Gursky said. “It’s really amazing.”