New homelessness figures for Orleans and Jefferson Parish are now out, and those new numbers show the region's homelessness problem is getting worse.
"Homelessness has risen for the second straight year as rents have soared, and the pandemic housing resources that were targeted specifically to house people experiencing homelessness have ended," UNITY of Greater New Orleans executive director Martha Kegel said. "Local homelessness us up 20 percent over the last two years."
Kegel says the homeless population in New Orleans and in Jefferson Parish now stands at 1,454, an increase of 240 from two years ago. Kegel says while the number of homeless men has decreased, the number of homeless women has increased by 17 percent.
Despite the uptick in unhoused people, Kegel says there is some good news.
"We have been able to reduce street homelessness in the last year," Kegel said. "The big rise is the number of people in the shelters."
Kegel says UNITY will use local and state grant money to get some of these people in permanent housing.
"We really hope to bring homelessness down to the lowest number in recent memory," Kegel said. "I think in the next two years, you're going to see a significant difference. In fact, you're going to see a significant difference by the end of this year."
In fact, Kegel says UNITY has a concrete goal it wants to achieve.
"We have set a goal based on the resources that we have put together of 1,140 people, and those would include people living on the street, people living in homeless shelters, people who are families with children, people who are fleeing domestic violence," Kegel said. "Those are all resources we have access to. Our partners have resources for veterans who are literally homeless."
