The number of individuals experiencing homelessness locally has decreased by 23 percent based on the most recent Point in Time Survey conducted by the Fremont County Homeless Coalition.
In January 2019, there were 128 individuals; in August 2019, there were 141; and in January this year, there were 98.
“In August, three out of every four people we interviewed was a Fremont County resident,” said DeeDee Clement, the executive director of Loaves & Fishes Ministries, during Wednesday’s General Government meeting. “I think there is this misconception that people come to Fremont County in the summer, but the reality is people come to Fremont County in the winter more than they come in the summer.”
Fremont County was one of 85 communities nationwide and five in the state selected in 2019 to be part of Built for Zero, a community-driven collaboration that works to make homelessness rare, brief and non-reoccurring.
Since the initiative kicked off in November, there has been a 27 percent reduction in veteran homelessness and a 38 percent reduction in households that were chronically homeless.
