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Annual Count of CNY Homeless Reveals More Unsheltered Individuals; Overall Rate is Down

Scott Willis
/
WAER News

A recent count of those living outdoors in Onondaga County jumped to 22 people this year.  That’s up from 8 in January 2016.  Housing and Homeless Coalition Coordinator Melissa Marrone attributes the increase to more volunteers and milder weather.  Last week, 40 volunteers searched the streets and other places not designed for human habitation, including cars or 24-hour locations.

"That's something that we're all hunkering down trying to figure out and doing some outreach to those 24-hour locations," Marrone said.  "The gas station worker at midnight out in Nedrow may not necessarily know about 211."                                                        

211 is the number to connect people to shelters and other human services including mental health and substance abuse counseling.  Marrone says the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office is trying to engage the unsheltered community and promote 211.  She says the coalition works to bring all of the homeless they encounter indoors that night, most of whom they haven’t seen before. 

"With first contacts, it's really hard when you're doing straight outreach to build those relationships, try to engage people," Marrone said.  "So, we weren't able to bring anyone in that night, but they are  having conversations with folks and continuing to do that engagement."

Marrone says all of those living outdoors are men. they also counted those residing in shelters and transitional housing, which are predominantly men, but also include women and some children.  They total 439.

"We were down by about six people, a decrease of about one percent," Marrone said.  "We looked at the trends that we're supposed to be looking at for HUD; so, family homelessness,  chronic homelessness, youth, veterans, and singles, and there really weren't any substantive increases or decreases."

Marrone says it appears eviction is the primary cause of most homelessness in the county.

"Why you're getting evicted, I'm  not too sure," Marrone said.  "It could be because your mental health is not being treated, and there are behaviors attributed to that; perhaps you're using substances and not paying your rent.”                                      

Marrone says only one unsheltered homeless person was counted in both Oswego and Cayuga counties.  Overall, she says homelessness in the three counties has decreased, though the rate among minorities did leap by 30 percent.  The Department of Housing and Urban Development will use the data to determine how much the region will receive to house the homeless.  

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.