LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — One of the most ambitious homeless census efforts in the country will begin Tuesday night in Los Angeles County.

Volunteers will fan out to count the number of homeless in Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley and East LA over a three-day period.

“We’ll be interviewing individuals, determining their vulnerability and creating a list of those most in need and help to prioritize to them at the end of the day for services like housing and care,” Herb Smith, President of the Los Angeles Mission, told KNX 1070.

The count, coordinated by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, will go beyond homeless living on the streets to include those in hospitals, jails, parks and beyond.

Southern California is home to more transients than any other place in America.

To sign up for the count click here.

A 2011 count found more than 52,000 homeless people living in the greater Los Angeles area.

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