By David Whiting / Orange County Register

Photo by Kevin Sullivan / Orange County Register

Originally published in Orange County Register.

If human beings are like stars — and bright or barely twinkling we all are stars in our own way — then the homeless are the shiniest of them.

It is a cold and very late Wednesday night and I have just spent more than four hours with volunteers looking behind bushes, walking railroad tracks, scouting parks to count the homeless.

Understand, this count is part of a federally ordered biennial program so we can better help those in need and this night is Orange County’s first night count. Yet the more we look, the more the effort — however valiant — feels like we are only gathering stardust.

As midnight approaches, a photographer and I cruise down empty streets to return to the Point in Count staging area. But as we drift through Santa Ana’s downtown, there is movement in the shadows.

To continue reading, click here to see the original article on Orange County Register’s website.