Counting Those Who Are Homeless in Area Counties | News [Video]

UTICA, N.Y. — A local organization will be taking a census of the homeless population in Oneida and Madison counties starting next week.

Cornerstone Community Church Pastor Mike Ballman is often on the frontlines of the homelessness issue in the Mohawk Valley. 

“We have to usually turn away about 10 to 15 people a night, the very first night we were open, we hit capacity. And we didn’t even advertise,” Pastor Ballman said about the shelter that was open during the cold weather.

Volunteers from the Mohawk Valley Housing and Homeless Coalition are also on the frontlines of the issue.

Starting in the morning of Jan. 30, the volunteers will be going around a performing a census to see how big the issue is. 

“It’s more reliable to ask the following morning than it would be to go out during …