Hennepin County Saw An Increase In Homelessness Last Year
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Despite many different efforts to end homelessness in Hennepin County, the number of people living in shelters has increased.
An update of a 10-year plan to address the problem shows that last year there were 3,125 homeless people in Hennepin County -- that's 231 more than in 2007.
I spoke with community members on Monday about what seems to be working and the challenges that remain.
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Simpson Housing Services runs a shelter in the basement of a church on 1st Avenue South in Minneapolis.
During the day it's closed, but at night every one of the beds is occupied. Organizers are even forced to turn people away.
"It also demonstrates, I think, the resources that we are able to put in place are still woefully inadequate for the number people who are in need in our community," said Steve Horsfield, the director of Simpson Housing Services.
Horsfield says many of the men and women who sleep at the shelter have jobs. They just don't earn enough money to pay rent.
"About a third of our guests on any given night are indeed working and simply not making enough income to participate in the rental housing market as it exists currently," he said.
Despite a rise in the overall number of homeless people, Hennepin County leaders say there are seeing progress.
"We have been pushing hard to end veteran homelessness and I think we are going to do it by this summer in Hennepin County," said Mikkel Beckmen of the Office to End Homelessness. "We are pushing hard to eliminate street homelessness. That's people living outside, not even going into shelters."
An initiative called Heading Home Hennepin was created in 2007 with the goal of eliminating homelessness in the county by the end of 2016.
"We are really excited about what is going on with family homelessness and family shelter use," Beckmen said. "That number over the last couple of years has really declined."
County leaders say the median stay in family shelters is 27 days. Most families are able to get into programs that lead them to transitional housing.
Officials say they are currently seeing a rise in the number of homeless senior citizens. A big challenge for them is a lack of affordable housing.
