A new report shows 1,530 people in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro were homeless as of January.
The Metro Area Continuum of Care, or MACCH, conducted the point-in-time count January 25th. It’s an annual point-in-time count of homelessness in a community on any given night. MACCH executive director Erin Porterfield says she’s cautiously optimistic that homelessness in the metro area is declining, based on this year’s numbers. "We did see a three percent decline from the year before, and very good news is also the number of people who are veterans that we counted who declined by 31 percent over the other year."
Porterfield says the numbers don’t account for some groups of people, such as those who go to jail or leave jail homeless.
She says MACCH’s Homeless Review Team, which works with partner agencies, has found housing and support for 150 people in the past year. But Porterfield says there’s a need for more quality, safe affordable housing.