NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — With homelessness hitting a record high in the United States this year, data shows a large number of people in Tennessee are still without homes, and it increasingly appears to be affecting one demographic.
On a single night in January 2023, roughly 9,215 Tennesseans were experiencing homelessness. While that's an about 12.8% decrease from 2022's numbers, it's still a much higher figure than the number of people experiencing homelessness in the state just three years ago.
That's according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report, which was released on December 15. The report complies data from Point-in-Time (PIT) Counts conducted throughout the nation in January 2023.
While only a single day out of the year, the PIT Count, which has been conducted every year since 2007, provides a snapshot of homelessness in different communities across Tennessee and other parts of the nation.
Nationwide, homelessness increased by about 12% between 2022 and 2023 — the largest increase ever recorded. More than half of all people experiencing homelessness in the country during that time were in four states, California, New York, Florida and Washington.
However, Tennessee was one of the top five states with the largest increases in homelessness between 2020 and 2022, with 3,311 more people experiencing homelessness in the state by January 2022, according to the report.
That adds up to an about 45.6% increase. Other states that saw a large increase in homelessness following the COVID-19 pandemic include California, Louisiana, Oregon and Arizona.
By January 2023, 1,352 less people were experiencing homelessness in Tennessee — one of the largest decreases recorded in the country that year. But the overall number was still a 35% increase from the 6,823 Tennesseans who were without homes in 2021.
The number of people experiencing homelessness in Nashville and Davidson County accounted for about 23% of all homelessness in the state this year, with the metropolitan area seeing an 11% increase in homelessness between 2022 and 2023.
Homelessness among veterans
Many states also saw specific increases in homelessness among unaccompanied youth and veterans between 2020 and 2023, with Tennessee having the second highest numerical increase in homeless veterans in the nation during that time period.
According to the report, there were 759 veterans experiencing homelessness in the state by January 2023, a 38.3% increase from the 2022 count. While that number is down from the 1,028 veterans who were homeless in 2007, it's the highest it's been since 2017.
Rural parts of the Southeastern end of the state and Chattanooga had the highest rates of unsheltered veterans, with about 86% of homeless veterans living without shelter.
Between 2020, the last count prior to the pandemic, and 2023, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness increased in 22 states. The largest numerical increase was in Oregon, but California still accounts for 30% of all veterans experiencing homelessness in the U.S. with around 10,589 people counted in January 2023.
Nationwide, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness increased by 7% between 2022 and 2023 but is still about 50% lower than it was in 2009, the baseline year for reporting veterans experiencing homelessness in HUD's annual report.
The report doesn't specify what may have caused this particular increase, but there are some common factors that tend to lead to homelessness among the nation's veterans, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Research indicates that veterans tend to struggle with housing stability due to associated mental health issues such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, which can make it even more difficult to navigate the lack of affordable housing and economic hardship.
In Texas, which also saw a large increase in veterans experiencing homelessness, volunteers conducting the January 2023 PIT Count noted possible factors like an overall population increase and a shortage of extensive supportive services.
Click here to read the full report.
from WKRN News 2 https://ift.tt/Ejr4AFm
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