Clark County leaders say the county’s growing homeless crisis is being fueled first and foremost by lack of affordable housing and rising rents, not primarily by addiction or mental illness. While local officials race to add more short-term shelter beds, the focus is increasingly shifting to permanent, income-restricted housing and stronger support services to keep people housed for good.
On the numbers
The county’s one-night Point-In-Time count tallied about 1,530 people experiencing homelessness, roughly a 12% jump from the previous count. Of those, 742 people were unsheltered, 560 were staying in emergency shelters and 228 were in transitional housing, according to Clark County. The same presentation reported that about 29% of those counted were chronically homeless and 38% identified as people of color.
Officials point to housing costs, not addiction
Local advocates and homelessness staff, including Sesany Fennie-Jones of the Council for the Homeless and Jamie Spinelli, Vancouver’s homeless response manager, told KGW that escalating rents, steady population…..