Oregon Homeless Count Shows 13,000 Homeless

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Salem, Ore.- The Oregon Housing and Community Services agency has released details on a statewide “Point-in-Time” annual homeless count.

This snapshot showed that 13,176 people in Oregon were experiencing homelessness during the Point-in-Time count, which took place in January 2015.

More than half of the people surveyed (56 percent) were unsheltered, meaning they were sleeping outside or in a car, and more than one in four (28 percent) was a member of a family that was experiencing homelessness.

According to social service providers, this snapshot doesn’t tell the full story.

School liaisons for homeless students who work with kids in schools experiencing homelessness report the dramatic rise in caseloads at the beginning of the year. Other agencies report record calls for rent assistance and eviction prevention assistance. Across the state, renters are experiencing extremely low vacancy rates.

* One-third (33 percent) of the people counted in homeless families were from Clatsop, Douglas, Josephine, and Yamhill counties.
* One in five (19 percent) people experiencing homelessness were under 18 years old. One in four (27 percent) people experiencing homelessness were under 24.
* One in 10 people counted were veterans.
* Communities of color are also over-represented among homeless populations. While African Americans make up just 1.8 percent of the population in Oregon, they make up 6 percent of the total homeless population.

“This year, we see that the number of people experiencing homelessness has remained steady from our last count,” said Margaret Van Vliet, Director of Oregon Housing and Community Services. “However, this count shows increasing numbers of homeless families in rural areas.”

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