After a night-long count a few weeks ago, Miami-Dade County has just released the newest numbers. In total, 4,156 homeless people live in Miami-Dade County. Eight-hundred and forty people are living on the street, about the same as previous counts.
But this census also tallies the number of homeless sleeping in shelters, in hotels and transitional housing. That number is 3,316, about 200 more than in August and 353 more than last year. Most of those people were in hotels or motels, placed there as part of a program designed for struggling families.
The Homeless Trust says it has seen a consistent uptick in the number of families requesting assistance and these numbers certainly confirm there are more families and individuals in need.
The county counts the number of homeless people twice a year, which provides a benchmark for how homeless services are doing. Fresh numbers also make it easier to leverage funding from both state and federal sources.
