New Bedford Homeless Numbers Declining
NEW BEDFORD — The City says the number of homeless people in New Bedford has decreased seven percent in its latest annual Point-in-Time Count, which was conducted during the last 10 days of January.
This year’s count came in at 372 homeless people in the city, less than the average of 391 over the prior decade, the City of New Bedford announced in a press release.
The number of unsheltered people was 43, the lowest count recorded since 2014. The City notes that this is the first time since PIT Counts have been recorded in New Bedford that no unsheltered individuals identified as being a veteran.
The number of sheltered people (those living in emergency or transitional housing), 329, was the lowest count recorded since 2013, with the exception of 2017.
The City release also stated that, “in previous years, more people experiencing homelessness lived in family households with children compared to adult-only households; this year marks the first time the number of people within family households experiencing homeless (165) equaled the number of people in adult-only homeless households (164).”
“The count also found that there were no families or children under 18 living on the streets in 2021; 28 individuals in the city were unaccompanied youth (a HUD definition that includes those who are between ages 18-24), an increase of eight individuals since 2020,” the City release stated.
The Point-in-Time Count is required by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and is conducted across the nation during the last 10 days of January
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