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444074


Date: November 13, 2024 at 09:03:27
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: US on track to set new record for homeless people w/over 650K ...

URL: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/homeless-us-population-record-number-b2616845.html


Gustaf Kilander
Washington DC
Sunday 22 September 2024

"US is on track to set a new record for homeless people with over 650K living on
the streets

Cities reporting increases in unhoused people include Seattle, San Francisco,
Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Miami

The US is set to break a new record number of homeless people with more than
half a million people living on the street this year.

Data collected and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal from more than 250
homeless organizations have counted at least 550,000 homeless people so far, a
10 percent rise from last year’s reports. The numbers gathered from cities and
rural areas show homelessness as it was on a single night earlier this year.

The upward trend means that the US will probably reach and pass the 2023
estimate of 653,000 homeless people. It’s the highest number since the
government began sharing such data in 2007.

The final estimate of the number of unhoused people will depend on data not yet
reported from areas such as New York City, which had the highest population of
any city in 2023.

Contributing to the most recent rise are migrants bused by Texas to cities such as
Chicago and Denver. Large numbers of migrants have also arrived in New York,
increasing the numbers last year.

The most recent counts of homelessness in the United States were mostly
conducted in January, shortly after there was a record number of unlawful border
crossings. In the months that followed, there was a large decrease in crossings at
the southern border and no migrants have been sent to Chicago or Denver since
June.

However, the counts were typically done before that time.

It’s not just migrants adding to the expected record, since the end of aid during
the pandemic, rising house prices and rents have forced people out of homes,
homeless advocates say, The Journal noted.

Members of the Los Angeles’ Inside Safe team help an unhoused person make
their way from an encampment to a bus to be brought to interim housing, as part
of an ‘Inside Safe’ operation in September. The US is on pace for its highest
homeless population count ever.

👆Members of the Los Angeles’ Inside Safe team help an unhoused person make
their way from an encampment to a bus to be brought to interim housing, as part
of an ‘Inside Safe’ operation in September. The US is on pace for its highest
homeless population count ever. (Getty Images)

Other issues spurring the numbers include crises of mental health and fentanyl –
last year, the US set a new record for chronic homelessness, which includes
disabled people who consistently are unhoused.

Almost 400 groups conduct the counts and some have declined to share their
figures before the 2024 report by the Department of House and Urban
Development is released in December. The figures are still preliminary and are a
view of a single moment when the counts were conducted.

The counts are seen as being undercounts that can be severely affected by how
many volunteers agree to take part or harsh weather conditions.

HUD has said that some cities are making progress, citing this year’s decreases in
unhoused individuals in Pheonix and Los Angeles. The agency pointed to
government efforts, including helping veterans, $175 million for housing, and $40
million for legal aid for residents facing eviction.

The department noted that it’s still reviewing the numbers for this year and that
the counts from January might not be the same as today.

Boston said its number of unhoused people rose by 11 percent, partly due to
rising numbers of migrants. Some cities and areas report their figures separately,
but the numbers reported show that the figures went from 4,430 in 2023 to just
over 12,000 this year.

The state said almost half of the 7,250 families in shelters in Massachusetts were
migrants and the state is set to spend over $1 billion on shelters and other
measures this fiscal year.

Other cities that reported increases in homelessness include Seattle, San
Francisco, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Miami. Milwaukee saw a 16 percent
decrease, according to The Journal.

The number of unhoused people in Chicago increased by almost triple, reaching
almost 19,000. Over 70 percent of the homeless people in the city were migrants
in shelters. However, the number of migrants in shelters had been lowered by
September.

In January, the number of homeless people in Denver rose by 42 percent to
around 14,300, a rise contributed to by migrants arriving by bus. The count took
place when the number of migrants in shelters in the city was close to its highest
point. In December last year, Texas sent 144 buses to the city."

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Responses:
[444076]


444076


Date: November 13, 2024 at 09:32:54
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: US on track to set new record for homeless people w/over 650K ...


when i read the headline it seemed the new record was for homeless with over 650k in their portfolio...lol...


Responses:
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