According to the Homeless Services Network, a local nonprofit that facilitated the annual count, volunteers found 2,781 people this past January in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties living in shelters, transitional housing, in their cars or on the streets — just a slight increase from the year prior.
“We are grateful that this is the smallest percent increase in several years,” said Martha Are, CEO of the Homeless Services Network, in a statement. Still, at a press conference Friday, she admitted that she doesn’t believe the count captures the full scope of homelessness in the region, in part due to fear stoked by a new state law that prohibits sleeping overnight on public property.
“We know that some people just didn’t want to be surveyed this year,” said Are…