LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Nearly 583,000 people experienced homelessness in the United States, according to the U.S. government. And even if you're not homeless — this matters. Here's why...
The United States Inter-agency Council on Homelessness says sometimes people without a home can cycle in and out of ERs, inpatient beds, and sometimes prison systems and that can impact you, the taxpayer, saying it can cost anywhere between 30 to 50 thousand dollars a year.
According to the data, behind California and New York, Florida ranks third in the country for the number of homeless.
Lee is one of the largest counties in Southwest Florida. Every year, agencies including Lee County's Homeless Coalition, gather data on homeless people in the area, creating what they call a "pit count". It's important to note that this complied data provides an estimate.
The coalition searches the neighborhoods, finding homeless people and asking them questions, including where they sleep.
The data currently released found 820 homeless people in Lee County. That's just more than double what we saw in 2021 (394).
The majority of them are not living in any type of shelter like an RV or a car. 109 of those that were counted were children.
The organizations say our current housing crises, high rent, and the impact of Hurricane Ian all contributed to the increase in homelessness.
As a reminder, there are programs that are available to help you or someone you know that is experiencing homelessness.
Here is a list of local organizations that could help:
