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Eugene's streets house more homeless
A study found an increase in homelessness in Lane County, up 10 percent from last year
by Calvin Hall | News Reporter
In Lane County, about 2,278 people are homeless on the streets or living in temporary shelters on any night, according to a day-long count of people living on the street and in homeless shelters.
The count, conducted on Jan. 25 by the Lane County Human Services Commission with the assistance of about 20 service programs, found that 1,500 people stayed in shelters that day while 184 people were turned away from shelters and 594 people stayed on the street.
The numbers are an increase from a shelter count in 2006 that found 1,246 people stayed in homeless shelters. The 2007 count found a 10 percent increase, from 49 percent to 59 percent, in the number of people who are considered chronically homeless.
Commission Supervisor Pearl Wolfe said the numbers indicate that more people are homeless and that they're homeless for longer periods of time. She said she was not surprised by the number because of her work with homeless programs and the steady decrease in service funding.
Homeless counts have been collected once a year for the past 12 years, but they've only counted homeless people in the shelters and not people on the street. Wolfe said the number is more accurate this year because of the street count and because they were able to count more people in the rural areas with help from the U.S. Forest Service, schools and food pantries.
She said 94 percent of the homeless people counted were local to Lane County.
"The good thing about this kind of information is that we're able to create a better description of what the need is," Wolfe said. "I'm hoping that what the number does is give the community a better picture of the amount of homeless we have locally and see it as a community priority."
As far as providing services, officials are looking to hold a second annual Project Homeless Connect, where homeless people receive free food, health care and other services. The first event, held on Feb. 8, provided services to 1,007 homeless people.
Contact the city, state politics reporter at chall@dailyemerald.com
The count, conducted on Jan. 25 by the Lane County Human Services Commission with the assistance of about 20 service programs, found that 1,500 people stayed in shelters that day while 184 people were turned away from shelters and 594 people stayed on the street.
The numbers are an increase from a shelter count in 2006 that found 1,246 people stayed in homeless shelters. The 2007 count found a 10 percent increase, from 49 percent to 59 percent, in the number of people who are considered chronically homeless.
Commission Supervisor Pearl Wolfe said the numbers indicate that more people are homeless and that they're homeless for longer periods of time. She said she was not surprised by the number because of her work with homeless programs and the steady decrease in service funding.
Homeless counts have been collected once a year for the past 12 years, but they've only counted homeless people in the shelters and not people on the street. Wolfe said the number is more accurate this year because of the street count and because they were able to count more people in the rural areas with help from the U.S. Forest Service, schools and food pantries.
She said 94 percent of the homeless people counted were local to Lane County.
"The good thing about this kind of information is that we're able to create a better description of what the need is," Wolfe said. "I'm hoping that what the number does is give the community a better picture of the amount of homeless we have locally and see it as a community priority."
As far as providing services, officials are looking to hold a second annual Project Homeless Connect, where homeless people receive free food, health care and other services. The first event, held on Feb. 8, provided services to 1,007 homeless people.
Contact the city, state politics reporter at chall@dailyemerald.com
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