Increased efforts by New Orleans-area service providers to provide permanent housing for homeless people over the last two years have yielded mixed results: While fewer people are living on the street, more are living in shelters and the rate of homelessness continues to rise.
That is according to the most recent “point in time” count conducted by UNITY of Greater New Orleans, which coordinates homeless outreach services in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish. The count of people living outside and in shelters in those areas is conducted every January, but the results released on Friday came later this year to include an additional partial count in July.
The annual count from January found a total of 1,563 homeless individuals living outside and in shelters, a 7.5% increase over last year, marking the fourth consecutive year of rising homelessness. That reflects an increase in people living from shelters, from 970 to 1128…