Homelessness goes up as violent crime and opioid overdoses go down

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF)- Homelessness has increased in Hamilton County according to the latest Hamilton Counted report from Mayor Weston Wamp’s office.According to data from the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, numbers sampled from a night back in January show that the number of homeless individuals has increased by more than 100.

The number of patients seen by the Hamilton County Homeless Healthcare Center has also gone up over the past year.

Baron King, the President and CEO of the CHATT Foundation, says these findings are in line with a 19% increase in homelessness across the country.

He says while lack of affordable housing is one key factor, he discussed that other factors could further increase these issues.

King said, “We think that we’re going to see a dramatic increase in demand of services when you see some of the cuts at the federal level such as Medicaid cuts, HUD cuts, VA cuts, SNAP cuts, and Department of Agriculture cuts. The people we serve use anywhere between one and five of those services, so it’s already putting the people who live at the margins at further risk.”

He added the need for volunteers at the CHATT Foundation continues to increase with the demand.

However, the number of violent crimes and opioid overdoses has gone down during that same time period according to that Hamilton Counted report.

Overdoses are down by nearly half over the past two years, violent crime is down 37%, while overall crime is down 18%.