Posted in Caring, Health

What is the true homeless count? [podcasts]

   September 6, 2022

Escambia County has $4.1 million to spend to help homeless and unsheltered people in the county. Opening Doors reports that its Point-in-Time survey counted 750 homeless people, only slightly up from the 2021 figure given to HUD (731).

Community Health Northwest Florida told the board last Thursday that it provided medical services to 5,226 homeless individuals last year and has already taken care of 7,600 in 2022.

United Way’s 2-1-1 report shows that they handled from Oct 2020-Sept 2021 calls from 10,676 individuals that were homeless or at imminent risk of losing shelter.

What’s the true scope of the problem in Escambia County?

Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh talks about how the board is trying to determine how many people are homeless in the county and then decide how to send $4.1 million to combat the problem.

Community Health Northwest Florida CEO Chandra Smiley discusses the rise of homeless and unsheltered in Escambia County–much, much higher than the numbers reported by the Opening Doors.

Share:

Rules for Comments

Your comments are welcomed, but there are some rules to follow:

(1) Be Nice. No comments that slander another, no racism, no sexism, no personal attacks.

(2) No Harrassing Comments.

(3) No Libel. That’s saying something is not true about someone. Don’t do it.

(4) Keep it clean. Nothing vulgar, obscene, or sexually related. No profanity or obvious substitutions.

(5) I reserve the right to remove any comments that violate our rules or are inappropriate. I am not responsible for what is posted. Comments may not appear right away until they are approved by a moderator.

(6) Limit your comments to the subject in this story only, and limit comments to 1,500 characters or less. Do not post copyrighted material. Comments will not be added to stories that are over five days old.

(7) No posts may advertise a commercial business, political candidate, or political group. Links in a comment aren’t allowed.

8) Commenting too many times may result in your comments not being allowed. Readers will begin to ignore your views.

9) Email me if you believe a comment violates any of these rules, and it will be deleted.