News Briefs: Since the recession...

Published August 2009 Vol. 13 Issue 7

Homelessness in Colorado is on the rise. According to an annual homeless assessment report released last month by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 14,747 Coloradans were homeless in 2008, 3.7 percent more than the number of homeless in 2007. BJ Iacino, spokeswoman for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, expects to see a much more dramatic increase when HUD’s 2009 study is published. Since the 2008 study was conducted, the CCH has seen an increase of over 20 percent in the number of newly homeless families seeking assistance. While nationally the number of homeless families seeking shelter increased by 9 percent, the number of homeless families seeking shelter in rural and suburban communities increased by almost 56 percent. Colorado not only has one of the highest concentrations of homeless people in the nation (.3 percent of its population), it is also one of only eight states where the number of unsheltered homeless was greater than the number of sheltered homeless.

—Sarah Harvey