LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- More than 30 organizations gathered Thursday to discuss ways to help the increasing number of homeless people as Thanksgiving approaches.

    The event, sponsored by the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, served as an educational resource fair with social services experts providing information on housing, health care and food stamps.

    A man in his fifties, who passed by with his belongings in a supermarket cart as the event was going on in Los Angeles' MacArthur Park, said he lost his job a year ago and the park became his home because he has no place to stay.

    The man, who spoke little English, said he would hope to get any help that he could from the charitable organizations.

    Joyce Purvy of Voice of Our Nations told Xinhua that homelessness is a serious problem in the United States. She said there are more homeless people in southern California than anywhere else in the U.S. because the area is warm in the winter.

    According to a study conducted by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty in the U.S., about 3.5 million Americans, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in a given year.

    Those homeless need food, shelter and shower facilities, Purvy said.

    Some organizations provide places for the homeless to shower. Churches and some non-profit organizations provide food on a regular basis. Thanksgiving dinners also will be provided almost in every city for the homeless.

    More individuals and organizations are needed to provide help for the homeless, she said.

    Purvy said that so far no data is available on how many new people have been added to the list of homeless since the recession began, but there has been a noticeable increase.

    In the U.S. Conference of Mayor's 2008 Report, 12 of the 25 cities surveyed reported an increase in homelessness due to foreclosures. Six cities didn't have enough data to be sure.

    Another recent study conducted by the mayors conference found that 12 of 23 cities surveyed had to turn away people in need of shelters due to a lack of capacity. Ten of the cities found an increase in households with children seeking access to shelters and transitional housing while six cities cited increases in the numbers of individuals seeking these resources, according to the study.