A new report shows record levels of homelessness across the country

Jordan Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Dec 31, 2024

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Homelessness in the United States has soared to record-breaking levels, and Pittsburgh advocates don't see the crisis slowing anytime soon.

A new report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found 770,000 people experiencing homelessness on a single night, a staggering 18% rise from 2023. Homelessness among families with children rose more than any other group — by 39%.

As the nation's largest and most regular housing survey, the "Point in Time" count offers an annual snapshot of individuals in shelters, temporary housing and outdoors, although it has been criticized for underestimating the true scale of the crisis, as it only captures data from a single night.

Annie Cairns, senior marketing and communications manager for the homeless shelter provider Light of Life Rescue Mission, wasn't surprised by the findings. Not only are Light of Life's shelters typically at capacity each night, the food pantry and donation center are also experiencing more demand than ever. Cairns said many people seeking help in those programs aren't yet homeless but are on the brink of crisis.

"The pandemic skyrocketed what was already becoming an issue," she said. "The numbers don't surprise me at all. If anything, I can't believe it's not more."

HUD attributes the rise in homelessness to increased immigration, natural disasters like the Maui fires, the ongoing affordable housing shortage and significant rental cost hikes. Cairns said even dual-income households are struggling to meet basic needs.

"Housing and food are becoming more of a luxury rather than a basic human right," she said. "Somewhere along the line, something got broken in the system. Until people become homeless and you physically see this uptick, it doesn't get talked about."

As tension around the crisis grows, many states and cities are criminalizing sleeping in public spaces, even for those with no alternatives, and a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision this year cemented the authority to enforce such policies. At the time, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County leaders said that they would avoid such hard-line approaches.

Still, Mayor Ed Gainey recently announced plans to clear two major encampments, one behind the Allegheny County Jail and another at Southside Riverfront Park, by the end of winter. More than a dozen tents under the 16th Street Bridge were also recently decommissioned.

Our Streets Collective, a local advocacy group, criticized these actions and organized a protest outside the mayor's home, calling encampment sweeps "cruel, dangerous, and ineffective."

While decommissions can increase the safety of some public spaces, Cairns said they don't fix the underlying problems. Pittsburgh has an estimated deficit of more than 8,200 units for households earning at or below 30% of the area median income. Some local housing groups argue the shortfall may be as high as 26,000 units.

Pandemic-era safety nets, such as eviction freezes and rental assistance programs, offered a temporary solution. In January 2021, the national homeless count dropped to 381,000. However, after the eviction moratorium ended, homelessness surged again — climbing to 580,000 in 2022, 650,000 in 2023 and 772,000 in 2024.

"They don't just automatically overnight not become homeless anymore," she said. "It's like a Band Aid on a broken leg. They're just going to go back out onto the street again, unless you are actually diving into solutions that are long-term."

Devon Goetze, who oversees services at the Auberle Family Emergency Shelter in McKeesport, said shelter stays have doubled since the pandemic, from about six months to a year.

Advocates such as Goetze see promise in zoning amendments proposed by the Gainey administration that aim to overhaul the city's zoning code and encourage more affordable development, though critics question the changes to public hearing requirements.

"Landlords we worked with two or three years ago through COVID don't exist anymore," Goetze said. "Nowhere are people building affordable apartments. It's all luxury developments, which drives up rent and prices entire communities out of the market."

There was one bright spot highlighted in the national report — a significant drop in homelessness among veterans, which fell to its lowest level on record and decreased 8% from 2023. The number of unsheltered veterans fell even more sharply, by nearly 11%.

Ben Stahl, CEO of Pittsburgh's Veterans Leadership Program, credited the progress to the VA "aggressively" shifting focus and funding to homeless prevention programs, like eviction assistance, rather than reactive solutions like rapid rehousing.

"It's a testament that the systems in place are working, and non-veteran services should maybe utilize some of those approaches and get more aggressive, get more upstream, so we can see those same results," he said.

_____