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Homeless people lined up this morning to get into the Tracy Community Center, where nonprofit organizations, city officials and volunteers gathered for the city’s first official count of its shelterless population.

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., residents were welcomed to give their names as part of a federally mandated biannual count of the nation’s homeless.

In exchange, the visitors were offered a meal by Apostolic New Life Center Church, health screenings by Care Link and introductions to various support services, including San Joaquin County Mental Health, Tracy Interfaith Ministries, McHenry House Family Shelter, WorkNet, Healthy Connections and the Salvation Army.

Today’s collaborative “homeless connection” event — combined with similar ones in other San Joaquin County cities Wednesday and Friday — is the county’s effort to keep tabs on the notoriously difficult-to-count homeless population.

The Friday count in Stockton is paired with a military veterans outreach event at the Stockton Homeless Shelter and St. Mary’s Interfaith Dining Hall from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The count — and the numbers gathered from it — are tied to millions in federal funding. San Joaquin County organizations receive close to $4 million in Housing and Urban Development Department grants specifically for helping the homeless population.

Aside from the fiscal ramifications, Dennis Buettner from San Joaquin County Mental Health said events like the ones this week are important to connect the homeless with services and remind them that they, too, are a part of the community.

“It’s worthwhile to do,” he said. “(Homeless people) are valuable. They’re worthwhile. And they don’t even know it anymore, sometimes.”

A final count of the homeless who showed up today wasn’t available this afternoon, but volunteers responsible for the tally said they were busy all day.

And it wasn’t just the longtime homeless who showed up. Those seeking help for the first time also visited the community center to be counted and find out what services are available.

Code enforcement and police officers were given credit for the sizeable turnout by Ana Contreras, head of Tracy’s code enforcement department. She said the police department was especially supportive of the effort, as police officers spread the word about Thursday’s gathering by handing out fliers to individuals and groups around town.

In the past, Tracy did not participate in the count.

According to Contreras, the city was not in a position to help with the most recent countywide tally two years ago, the first year of the homeless connection events.

Before that, the count was performed by volunteers in the dead of night who recorded the number of people they saw while wielding flashlights out of passing cars.

Contreras added that the city looked forward to participating in the next homeless count.