2009 Homeless Count in Suburban Cook County

The volunteer efforts that came together for Thursday night's unsheltered homeless count were nothing short of a miracle. Thanks to everyone who braved the cold and deprived themselves of a good night's sleep to shed light on the sometimes invisible problem of suburban homelessness.

As the teams returned to their host sites at 2:00 a.m., there was little time or energy left that night to debrief on this high-impact experience.  Many of us have been talking about it ever since - over the proverbial water cooler or through emailed threads - and we wanted to create a space for all our volunteers to share their stories and reflections.

With this in mind, we invite you to share through this online bulletin board what you experienced on count night.  We ask you not to use real names of homeless people or exact locations where they slept, but please tell us more about what you saw and experienced while out on the count.

Check back often to read what others have to say. And if you haven't done so already, make sure to fill out a Volunteer Survey to provide us with valuable feedback about planning and executing future Homeless Counts. You can access the Volunteer Survey here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1cmVxPTTghFRR5YcJXwlDw_3d_3d

Please remember: do not use the real names of homeless people or the exact locations where they slept, since this is a public forum.