Tally Of Lane County Homeless Increases Nearly 32 Percent

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – The latest count shows a nearly 32% increase in the number of homeless people in Lane County, surpassing the tally in the wake of the Great Recession.

The Register-Guard reports that volunteers found 2,165 people living on the streets, in short-term housing and in emergency shelter when they fanned across the county in late January. That’s according to the count released by Lane County Human Services on Wednesday. Last year’s tally found 1,641 people.

The count is the highest since 2011, the earliest tally available. That year, about two years after the Great Recession, volunteers found 2,111 people – a number that decreased until 2017 when it began a steady uptick.

Leaders in the west-central Oregon County have developed a timeline to implement an aggressive and costly roadmap, developed by a consultant, to bring indoors people sleeping out on the streets in three-plus years.