A national report released by the U-S Department of Housing and Urban Development today shows chronic homelessness declined 12-percent from 2005 to 2006. It was the first time ever the federal government has tracked a decline in people living on the streets.
The data were taken from nearly 4-thousand cities, including Nashville. During that same time, the city’s own homeless count jumped from 15-hundred to nearly 2-thousand. That includes folks in a shelter or outside. Since then, the homeless count has headed back down.
Metro’s homelessness coordinator Clifton Harris says it’s hard to get an accurate count but says the new national numbers that show a decline are encouraging.
“For me, it gives me a sense of hope that work can be done to reduce chronic homelessness. And we know that. It’s just a matter of making sure you’ve got that good data on the front end.”
Nashville’s homeless count, like other cities, uses volunteers on one evening each year who are often uncomfortable looking every place homeless people camp out. Harris says the count can be affected by everything from inclement weather to word getting out that Metro will be counting heads.
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