Homeless count in El Paso County levels off after major increase
At this time last year, a record 1,551 homeless people were living in El Paso County according to a yearly survey. But this year, that number has leveled off and the number of homeless people only increased by 11.
Andy Phelps, Homelessness and Prevention Coordinator said, “I was expecting to see the count decrease because the city has been actively working with and partnering with the continuing care to fight homelessness in our community.”
Phelps said the biggest telling point from this year’s survey is the 13% decrease in unsheltered homeless.
“Went from 513 to 444,” said Phelps. “And I think that’s something that our community can celebrate.”
And a big reason for that is because of the work that has been done at the Springs Rescue Mission and Salvation Army.
Last year, the city of Colorado Springs was able to add 230 low barrier beds. Travis Williams with the Springs Rescue Mission said these beds has saved lives.
“To think back maybe six years ago, we had zero people that we were sheltering at the Springs Rescue Mission. And, because of adding more and more beds, this year we were able to shelter and have the capacity to shelter 450 individuals on our campus alone.”
Moving forward, Phelps said thanks to the homeless initiative plan, this is only the beginning.
“Increase camp cleanups, we did that. We hired three additional neighborhood services staffed. Increase CSPD responses to homeless issues, we’ve done that. They are adding additional [Homeless Outreach Team] officers and additional officers downtown. But, things we are still working on: we have homeless outreach court coming to Colorado Springs,” Phelps said.
Both Phelps and Williams believe that with the work being done, that we will start to see the number of homeless people here in El Paso County start to decrease.
Between 2017 and 2018, the homeless count went up by more than 100, so this year’s count only going up by 11 is a huge step in the right direction for El Paso County.
