Hennepin County is doubling down its efforts to end homelessness and get help to people during these cold winter months.
As temperatures drop and shelter availability is harder to come by, those living on the streets face extreme hardships.
County Planning Analyst Erin Wixsten says their streets to housing team has adopted a new approach to their outreach.
"Kind of moving away from managing homelessness, like handing out survival gear, socks and sandwiches, to sort of really be a triage, person-centered, trauma-informed approach," says Wixsten. "To identifying, why are you out here and what do you need to support your exit strategy out of homelessness?"
Wixsten says they're out there getting a look at what's happening now.
"We really look at people who are camping or sleeping in places un-meant for human habitation," says Wixsten. As an ask, much like an EMT would respond to a car accident as an ask. Right now, there's a couple of encampments that are larger, there's more spaces that people are living in their vehicles. You know, riding transit and things like that."
The homeless population is up 24 percent from 2022, and as the county continues to combat the issue though resources like their shelter hotline and monitoring teams, they continue to stand by their goal to end the problem by 2025.