Torrance City seeks volunteers for 2026 homeless count Jan. 22

Torrance City organizers are asking residents to volunteer for the 2026 homeless count on Thursday, Jan. 22. The count begins at 8 p.m. at Ken Miller Recreation Center, and volunteers must be at least 18 years old.

Organizers said volunteers will be paired and provided with an app and a map to survey a specific portion of Torrance. "We pair you with an app and a map," Speaker 2 said, adding that teams typically work in pairs.

Speaker 2 said volunteers will be assigned coverage areas around the Del Amo Shopping Center, "all the way from Anza to Madrona," and should watch for people camped at bus stops, sleeping behind buildings and instances of vehicle homelessness such as RVs or other vehicles.

"Everybody deserves a second chance," Speaker 3 said, summarizing the outreach imperative and listing common pathways into homelessness, including job loss, divorce and family illness. Speaker 3 also gave a recent snapshot from field observations: "33 vehicles from the locations that we were driving and 1 individual."

Speaker 2 said the information collected during the count will be transmitted to Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). "Based on that information, we will continue to advocate for funding and resources to support our Torrance homeless outreach efforts," Speaker 2 said.

To sign up, residents were directed to count.lahsa.org and asked to select Torrance as the deployment site. Speaker 1 closed the announcement by thanking the community: "Thank you for caring, Torrance."