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RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s capital city recorded a 10% increase in its homeless population during a winter survey, according to preliminary data from the count.
The number of people sleeping in shelters or outside grew from 497 people in January 2019 to 549 last month, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, citing a regional survey conducted biannually. It’s the first such increase since 2011, the newspaper said.
“The focus on serving households with more complex needs and higher barriers to housing is the primary driver of this increase,” Kelly King Horne, a director of the region’s homeless services, told the newspaper.
Still, the numbers are a little under half of what was recorded a decade ago, when 1,150 people were counted as homeless, according to data from 2009.
The census, also called the point-in-time count, is federally mandated to help determine the amount of money the region will get for initiatives combating homelessness.
