By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

The Hays Housing Coalition, along with support from area churches and businesses, is working to tally the numbers of homeless people in Hays.

First Call for Help Executive Director Linda Mills said the group will kick off the survey with a free community-wide chili supper Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Hays National Guard Armory, 200 Main St.

At Thursday’s City Commission meeting, Mills said the supper serves as a gathering place to attract as many survey respondents as possible. The survey asks, “Where did you sleep the night of January 22?” If surveyors respond they slept in a car or a friend’s couch, for example, the survey gathers more information.

The Hays Police Department is also helping with the project. Officers have volunteered to scout areas known as “homeless hangouts” in order to gather more participants for the survey.

Mills is also looking for volunteers to help conduct the survey throughout the city of Hays. Mills said all volunteers will be trained.

For more information, contact Mills at (785) 623-2800 or [email protected].