Did you know in SW Florida
- Joseph King
- Jun 25, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 6, 2022
There's a disturbing up kick with family on the street
One finding this year in Lee that is especially disturbing is the uptick in families on the streets, Everly said.
Because the Lee coalition does not work directly with landlords on rapid rehousing, what she hears is anecdotal about the rent spikes but she points to data from the website, according to Zumper.
The website says the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,633 in Lee, a 47% increase from last year. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is now $2,200, a 44% hike from last year. According to the website Zumba
New data on homelessness shows a decline in Collier County and a jump in Lee County but experts in both communities caution the overall outlook is troubling due to dramatic rent increases hitting the most vulnerable.
“Point in time” homeless counts are done annually over one or two days in late January to get a snapshot of the homeless numbers.
In Lee County, the results show 560 people were experiencing homelessness, a 42% jump from the 394 homeless recorded last year, according to the results
Collier's County rising rents, makes affordable housing for the homeless harder to obtain.
The count in Collier found 462 homeless, a 23% drop from 568 individuals the same time last year.
Southwest Florida has had an affordable housing crisis for years and it has worsened as the real estate market has exploded; more people have been moving to Florida for a variety of reasons including to get away from more restrictive COVID-19 rules in other states, the weather, and an increase in remote employment opportunities.
Despite the January decline in the homeless population in Collier, outreach workers for the Collier County Hunger and Homeless Coalition have faced a huge spike in caseloads for the first three months of this year, said Michael Overway, Executive Director of the coalition.
They worked to find housing for 337 homeless people from January through March this year, compared to 600 individuals for all of last year, he said.
Therese Everly, executive director of the Lee County Homeless Coalition, said part of the gap between the numbers in Lee has to do with shortcomings in last year’s count.
Because of public safety concerns due to COVID-19, last year’s count was abbreviated so the number would likely have been higher.
What is promising from this year’s finding is that the number of chronically homeless decreased to 47, down from 57 last year, she said.
“It takes significant time, effort and building trusted relationships between a client and a case manager to work towards permanent housing solutions.” Said Mr. Everly
The annual count findings across Florida communities are reported to state and federal agencies. The data helps homeless coalitions decide where to target government funding for rehousing and grants which are often designed for homeless prevention.
Volunteers interview homeless individuals at shelters, soup kitchens, day labor hiring sites and at homeless camps. They ask about family circumstances, veteran status, education, health and substance abuse history
The counts have flaws, including that some homeless individuals purposely stay away from count sites to avoid being interviewed by the volunteers. In addition, poor weather can keep some away from sites even though daily living supplies are offered.
Statewide data for this year from the Florida Council on Homelessness typically is not available until late June.
In 2021, the state said there were 21,487 homeless individuals across Florida, a 23% drop from 27,487 homeless in 2020. The number has been dropping annually for the past 10 years, according to the council.
What’s happening in Collier
Of the 462 who were homeless in late January in Collier, 157 were on the streets. Another 180 were in emergency shelters and 125 were in transitional housing, the data shows.
Collier is seeing an uptick in newly homeless, as opposed to individuals who are chronically homeless, and there are more homeless seniors, Overway said.
“For the first quarter this year seniors 60 and older are experiencing homelessness like never before.”
There were 22 homeless veterans this year, down from 34 last year.
Wounded Warriors of Collier County have help decrease homeless veterans for the decline because of its three houses for homeless veterans. One residence is used as transitional housing until veterans can get back on their feet and the other two are for older veterans for longer term.
The newly homeless tend to be in their 20s, with many of them being single women with children.
St. Matthew’s House, the homeless shelter, in Collier County reports a wait list of 60 to 100 names.
Housing the homeless is just the beginning of a long term program
A. Job training
B. Life skill training
C. Drug Rehabilitation
D. GED training
It takes a village to help a homeless
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