Mayor Walsh Leads 37th Annual Homeless Census

Mayor Martin J. Walsh led a group of 400 volunteers, including City of Boston cabinet and department heads, State officials, community and civic leaders, and homeless providers in conducting the street count for the City’s 37th annual homeless census. The street count is part of a larger census of homeless adults and families in emergency shelters, transitional housing and domestic violence programs.

In 2016, Boston was identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as the city with the lowest percentage of unsheltered people living on the street of any city conducting a census. The annual homeless census is required by HUD as a key component of Boston’s $24 million funding grant.

“I want to thank all of last night’s volunteers for their time and commitment to our homeless neighbors,” Mayor Walsh said in a press release. “The annual homeless census is far more than a one-night count — it’s part of a year-round commitment to housing our homeless and helping our neighbors in need.  One of the things I am most proud of as Mayor is that since the first time I led this census three years ago, more than one thousand homeless people in our city have been housed — and we are not stopping until we have ended chronic homelessness in the City of Boston.”