The number of homeless people in Montgomery County has dropped from last year’s record high.
This was revealed in the results of the county's annual point-in-time count. It's an effort to count how many people are homeless or unsheltered on one day in January and assess what services people need.
Homelessness Data
On Jan. 23, officials counted 687 homeless people, 92 of whom were unsheltered.
While still high when looking back at the last decade, that's still fewer people compared to last year's count of 771 people. That included 159 unsheltered persons.
“The numbers have decreased, but they are also still the second highest numbers that we've counted since 2007. Something needs to be different."
St Vincent de Paul Shelter, the largest homeless shelter network in the region, reported that the top three reasons for homelessness are family conflict, eviction, and lack of affordable housing.
“We have always had room at the end, so we've never turned away anyone seeking shelter,” said Michael Vanderburgh, the executive director of the shelter. “But there's such a high percentage of folks looking for their own housing.”
St Vincent de Paul reported that they had over 500 people per night in the last four months of 2023, including over a 100 children per night.
The annual count also revealed that the annual totals for 2023 show an increase of 8 percent in the number of households experiencing homelessness.
The average length of time people experienced homelessness also increased nearly 10% from 2023 to 2024. That means the average amount of time someone is homeless has risen to 69 days.
Money to support solutions
Montgomery County Homeless Solutions Policy Board recently announced a $7.8 million fund to tackle homelessness and housing instability.
The money is from the HOME-American Rescue Plan.
The goal for the money is to address the urgent need for more affordable housing and to help people who are housing insecure, accordng to Kathleen Shanahan, the Homeless Solutions Program Coordinator.
“The numbers have decreased, but they are also still the second highest numbers that we've counted since 2007,” Shanahan said.“Something needs to be different. That is why we are thinking about what are the services that we have and what can we do as a community to keep people stably housed prior to them entering the homeless system.”
About $4 million of the money will go towards developing affordable housing.
Another $3 million will be available for services to assist those experiencing a housing crisis, including outreach, diversion and housing navigation.
Interested organizations have until April 22 to apply.
