This week two area counties took part in a nationwide effort to count the homeless. The Blair County Community Action Agency led the count in Blair and Cambria Counties.

As part of the survey, more than 50 volunteers fanned out across the region. A spokesman says they located eight people who are homeless in Blair County, and three in Cambria County. He believes that’s a small portion of the actual number of homeless.

Family Services, Inc,  which operates the homeless shelter in Altoona, says it’s housed more than 800 people over the past four years.