NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The United Way of Reno County is working on educating the public this month on how to help those who need it have a place to sleep at night.
"On MLK Day on the 20th, from 10 a.m. to noon, we're asking community members to come together at Stringer Fine Arts Center," said Valerie Taylor with United Way of Reno County. "For an hour and 15 minutes, we're going to put together kits. These kits will go out to our homeless population. They will have food, harm reduction kits, things to keep warm, socks, all of these items that can really help someone get through a night when they're struggling with homelessness. Then we'll also have 45 minutes of a session called Debunked, where we're gonna share some facts with those volunteers who are coming in so that they know what's going on locally in our community and maybe some of the fact checking. Is this really accurate? Is this really true?"
This is all in preparation for the city's Point In Time count on Jan. 23.
"The point in time count occurs every year," Taylor said. "It is a snapshot of the amount of people in Reno County who are experiencing homelessness on a literal level. They're sleeping in their cars, they're sleeping on the streets, they're sleeping in our shelters, or they're sleeping in hotels that are paid through vouchers, through churches, or different organizations. This helps bring in money for our community so that we can start working on shelter and all of the resources that individuals who are facing homelessness need in our community. We're asking for our community to come in and help us. So from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on January the 23rd, we will be at the Avenue A Park. The city of Hutchinson has graciously donated that building at Avenue A Park so that we can get out of the elements, provide some resources, meals, and get a count of individuals in our community who are experiencing homelessness."
For more information on the events, go to https://www.unitedwayofrenocounty.org/.