ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is preparing to release its Annual Homeless Assessment Report.

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is preparing to release its Annual Homeless Assessment Report

  • Based on the Point-in-Time count for Monroe County, homeless advocates believe the report will show a trend of an increase in the number of homeless families

  • Organizations that help the homeless say that "families are in crisis"

The data is showing an increase in the homeless population, according to HUD's annual Homeless Point-in-Time Count.

More specifically, the count taken earlier this year shows a significant increase in the number of homeless families in Monroe County, with experts saying they expect to see a similar trend in the stats across the state.

“I always pictured myself as a chef,” said a single mother of two young children who went to school to become a chef but says she actually finds it challenging to find food.

Spectrum News 1 caught up with the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, at an outreach center in Rochester where she was offered a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“I have to go day by day [and] kind to figure out what resources I can get," she said. 

The woman says she has no place to call home. For the most part, she says she sleeps on friend’s couches while her children stay with her ex temporarily.

“Just hope that I wake up to the next morning,” she said.

This woman is actually one of the lucky ones.

“So many families are in crisis," said Kim Hunt of Family Promise of Greater Rochester. The organization assists families at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

“We always ask the question, 'where did you stay last night?' And it's very common out here, 'I slept in my truck,'" Hunt said. "We had one family sleeping in a U-Haul truck before they came into our shelter. Or I'm sleeping outside, or I'm sleeping on someone's porch – with their children."

The numbers back that up.

HUD requires communities across the country to conduct an annual count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness. It’s taken on a single night in January and becomes the agency’s annual Point-in-Time Count. It’s critical to determining funding for a community’s homeless services.

While the PIT numbers gathered this year have not yet been released, Partners Ending Homeless is the agency tasked with gathering the count and has released the numbers for Monroe County. It shows an approximate 25% increase in the number of homeless families in the county – from 803 families in 2023 to 1,056 in 2024. And the number of unsheltered families just about doubled from 42 to 80.

“We had a big increase in families," said homeless advocate Andy Carey. "And I think that has a lot to do with, we have low housing stock. We're definitely in a housing crisis."

He says the PIT count traditionally severely undercounts the true unhoused population. He estimates the number should be at least tripled. “A lot of people won't go to a shelter, so they're staying in cars and parking lots all over the place to not be in a shelter," he said. "And if you're a family, maybe you fear that you're going to lose your kids because you're homeless.”

“It’s very challenging because you never know who’s going to live [and] who’s going to die, especially out here in these streets, not knowing what’s going to happen [or] what could happen,” said the woman struggling to find a home for herself and her children.

But the people who do the work, who walk the streets and who reach out, are hopeful for solutions.

“I think we need to get beyond blaming and … just recognizing the struggle in others and saying that could happen to me,” said Hunt.

Even the homeless mother has hope she and her children will be reunited with a roof over their heads, and that she will become a chef and be able to provide for her family.

“I mean, everything is a struggle," she said. "But you just got to keep your head up.”

The Point-in-Time Count was held on Jan. 25 of this year. The count includes the number of people sheltered – those in emergency shelters, warming centers, transitional housing and safe havens. And it includes the number of people who are unsheltered – those who are living in places not intended for people to stay, such as encampments, abandoned buildings, parks, cars, garages, under bridges and elsewhere.

HUD says the data will be released for all of New York’s counties and for the entire country within the next few days.