UCLA volunteers join community members and policymakers in Westwood Homeless Count

More than 160 volunteers - including a large contingent of UCLA students, faculty and staff - fanned out across the streets of Westwood last Thursday night as part of the Westwood Homeless Count, an annual effort to accurately tally the number of unhoused people living in the local community.

"We do this to ensure that those who are invisible are visible … and to make sure that we are answering the needs of this community," said Felicia Marie Knaul, associate of the chancellor and a distinguished professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, who was participating in her second Westwood count.

The Jan. 22 event, which began at Westwood Presbyterian Church with food and refreshments donated by local businesses, capped off a three-day effort by thousands of volunteers to provide a snapshot of homelessness across the broader region. The count is crucial in helping determine how government funds are allocated for homeless services throughout Los Angeles County, which has an estimated 72,300 unhoused people - more than any other in the nation.

County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and members of the staffs of both Mayor Karen Bass and City Council member Katy Yaroslavsky joined Westwood community members and Bruins in the count. Horvath, who last February launched an independent blue-ribbon commission with Chancellor Julio Frenk to connect the expertise of Bruin scholars to Los Angeles' fire recovery and rebuilding efforts, highlighted the major role UCLA continues to play in local communities.

"We would not be able to do tonight without UCLA," Horvath said. "It really makes a difference to have UCLA so invested in issues throughout our region."

Volunteers soon hit the streets in small groups, armed with census tract maps and digital apps, to conduct the count, seeking out those living outside as well as those in tents, vehicles and shelters. The work lasted until about 1 a.m.

Among the faculty participants was Randall Kuhn, a professor in the department of community health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, much of whose scholarship has addressed issues related to homelessness and health. Kuhn stressed the importance of the count - both for Los Angeles and for neighborhoods across the nation, where similar counts were taking place.

"The point-in-time homeless count is happening in every continuum of care across the United States this week as citizens count the burden of unsheltered homelessness in their communities and the country as a whole," he said. "Just as important for Los Angeles, the count is a community gathering when more than 5,000 Angelenos show their concern and their support."

Knaul recalled that community-centered concern and support in the wake of the 2025 wildfires - work that UCLA carries on each day with its community partners through the work of UCLA Health, the UCLA Volunteer Center, the UCLA Center for Community Engagement and the efforts of faculty, students and staff across every campus unit.

"This community comes together to help each other, to support each other," she told count participants. "It is a blessing to have you doing this. It's a blessing that you're dedicated to doing this, but it's a blessing for me and for all of us who work at UCLA and are part of this community to be inspired by you. It's what helps us to keep doing what we're doing."

The results of the 2026 count - which was overseen by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the region's lead homeless agency - are expected to be released in late spring or early summer.