Annual State of Homelessness Released
New Report Shows Nearly 28,000 in Metro Region Experienced Homelessness Annually
DENVER, COLORADO – January 27, 2023 – The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) released its third annual Metro Denver State of Homelessness report today, highlighting new data in the region related to homelessness.
The report, for the third year in a row, demonstrates the overall issue of homelessness across multiple sources including the region’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), the 2022 Point in Time (PIT) count, as well as school district data on students experiencing homelessness.
The HMIS showed 27,860 unique individuals accessed services related to homelessness between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. This shows an annual snapshot of homelessness as compared to the region’s one night count, the PIT, which occurred on January 24, 2022, locating 6,884 individuals. Additionally, the report shared that 7,334 people stayed outdoors at some point during the year, compared to 2,078 on the evening of January 24, 2022.
“This shows the drastic difference between how many individuals are experiencing homelessness on a given night as compared to over the course of a year,” said Dr. Jamie Rife, Executive Director of MDHI. “Having more real-time data, like we do via the Homeless Management Information System, allows us to plan more effectively and demonstrate the full scope of the crisis of homelessness in our region,” she added.
Consistent in this year’s report as compared to last two years is the overrepresentation of BIPOC individuals in the population of those experiencing homelessness. “Once again, and glaringly so, the data show the overrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color among those experiencing homelessness. This the direct result of multiple systemic failures which are ultimately the root causes of homelessness,” stated Rife.
The report also outlines, in detail, the top causes of individuals experiencing homelessness. They are consistently related to economic barriers, such as the inability to pay rent or a mortgage, evictions, or familial challenges such as relationship issues or family break-up. Additionally, the report details the steps the region has been working on together to solve homelessness, specifically the Built for Zero work which is aimed at creating a path to measurable reductions. Due in part to this work, the region has seen a 31% reduction in veteran homelessness over the past two years, which is nearly three times the national average of an 11% veteran reduction.