Home » Louisville homelessness down 24%, according to one-night count

Louisville homelessness down 24%, according to one-night count

Number of homeless has decreased 23% since 2012

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 16, 2016) — The 2016 Louisville point-in-time one night homeless county showed a 24 percent decrease in homelessness, from 1,466 in 2015 to 1,116 this year, according to the Coalition for the Homeless. The one-night homeless Street Count increased by 38 percent (from 81 in 2015 to 112 in 2016), but the one-night shelter count was down 22 percent (from 1,385 in 2015 to 1,004 in 2016).

Also, the 2015 annual census resulted in 6,737 homeless, down from 7,697 in 2014, a decrease of 12 percent. Since 2012, the census has shown a 23% drop in overall homelessness in Louisville.

While the census counts the number of homeless people throughout the year, the annual point-in-time (PIT) count is meant to indicate how many people sleep on Louisville’s streets and shelters on any given night. PIT is conducted on a January night annually. On that night, a street count is conducted.

Last year the Coalition, Metro Louisville, and key partners including the Robley Rex VA Hospital, Volunteers of America Mid-States, and Family Health Centers joined forced through an effort called Rx: Housing Veterans and became one of only a handful of cities to reach “functional zero” in the fight against veteran homelessness. In doing so, they housed almost 800 homeless veterans during the year and continue to house approximately 30 newly homeless veterans each month. In 2016, Rx: Housing partners are also working to end chronic homelessness by housing everyone in the city who has been homeless for a year or longer.