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Area Homeless Count

And there’s always a concern for the homeless during colder weather, but some counties in our area are finding that there are actually lower numbers of homeless people this year compared to previous years

Reporter Brock Owens spoke with people involved in a recent homeless count and their reaction to the lower numbers in our area this year.

For some working with the homeless each day they say the results are frustrating because they believe the amount of homeless people is not going down even if the numbers reflect that

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates an increasing number of total homeless people nationwide each year since 2016. With larger increases in the most recent years.

A national initiative known as the Point In Time Count looking for homeless people in the area was done last month and several local counties participated such as Blair County.

“We were able to identify 46 individuals and 35 families during that night. The numbers do look a little lower than last year, but we found that there were a lot of individuals not quite as willing this year for one reason or another to participate.”

The Community Action Partnership of Cambria County also reports lower numbers than last year with eight unsheltered homeless people found during the count as opposed to 22 last year.

With fewer homeless people being found does that mean the homelessness trend is turning around?

“Absolutely not. We know that there are more homeless than last year out there.”

“Over the past year we’ve just seen a steady increase in calls coming in”

The Women’s Help Center is the only shelter in Cambria County and its Executive Director Roxann Tyger also says they now always have a waiting list which was not the case in previous years.

Officials say they believe there are several reasons for the lower numbers this year including the weather because the count was in the middle of the week with extremely cold temperatures.

“People we did talk to we were hearing people were allowed to stay in places where they normally aren’t allowed to stay”.

Officials also say it’s not always individuals or small groups looking for shelter at times they deal with families of ten or more.

“I would say probably every week we’re running into at least one bigger family that is experiencing homelessness.”

Officials add that as the numbers have increased it’s also become more difficult finding homes for the homeless.

Official stats from HUD do not come out until later in the year so it remains uncertain if the estimates will be lower than previous years.

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