The Street2Feet Outreach Center is looking for community volunteers to take part in the annual Winter Point In Time Count to get accurate numbers of homeless individuals and families in Monroe County.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development collects data from the national Point In Time Count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless. "Unsheltered" means living in tents, cars or abandoned buildings.HUD then uses this data to help determine how much money to allocate toward efforts to help the homeless in communities across America.The Point In Time Count is carried out by each community's "continuum of care," a network of shelters, churches, food pantries, community volunteers and other agencies and organizations helping the homeless.Monroe County's continuum of care includes Street2Feet, the Homeless Advisory Board, which meets monthly at the county administration building in Stroudsburg, the East Stroudsburg Salvation Army shelter, the Stroudsburg Wesleyan Church's Overnight Cold Weather Shelter, Family Promise, an agency working with evicted or displaced families, and various local churches and volunteers.Monroe County does a count in the winter and another in the summer.Street2Feet invites those interested in volunteering to help with this year's winter count to attend two planning meetings, one at 4 p.m. Tuesday and the other at 4 p.m. Jan. 26.Both meetings will be at Street2Feet's location in the former Warrior Creekside Apartments building on First Street, between the Garfield Street and Washington Street intersections, in Stroudsburg.The entrance to Street2Feet, which shares building space with Salt Of The Earth Ministries, is in the dirt parking area across from the Garfield Street intersection.A division of Resources for Human Development, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit formed in 1970 to address various social needs, Street2Feet opened on First Street early last year and partners with the Monroe County Homeless Initiative, which was formed in early 2013 and includes the Homeless Advisory Board.Street2Feet provides a transitional location where the homeless can receive mail and phone calls while using computers there to search online for jobs and housing."We've been trying to circulate copies of an informational packet in the community on how residents should respond if they see or are approached by homeless people on the street," said Street2Feet site coordinator Elizabeth Bogart."The informational packet is a collaboration between our agency and the Monroe County Homeless Advisory Board. It gives residents a list of available services and resources to which they can refer the homeless."We serve an average of 30 to 35 clients a day," Bogart said. "On average since June, we've helped secure housing for five clients per month. Everyone we've secured housing for still has housing. We know this because we follow up with each client for six months after they're housed. We've helped about 200 people with varying needs get their lives back on track."Street2Feet also partners with Pocono Medical Center and local dentists to provide a basic health and dental care clinic to clients the first Wednesday afternoon of each month."The dentists do what they can, but our area doesn't have the resources to give our clients the proper dental care many of them need," Bogart said.Street2Feet is accepting the following donated items: tissues in purse packs or large boxes, cough drops, two-in-one unisex shampoo conditioner, bar soap, deodorant, pump shampoo for showers clients use at the center, hairbrushes, combs, hair ties, laundry detergent, bleach, travel mouthwashes, portable snacks (peanut butter, crackers, granola bars, etc.), pens, wet wipes, inspirational art work to decorate the walls, new or used board games for adults, and pocket calendars.Monetary donations can be made out to "RHD" (Resources for Human Development), with "Street2Feet" on the subject line, and mailed to Street2Feet, 130 N. First St., Stroudsburg, PA 18360.Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC