TOLEDO, Ohio —
The Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board conducted the Point in Time Count in January. It's a snapshot census of how many people are experiencing homelessness in Lucas County.
Results are still waiting to be calculated, but current national trends align with local service increases.
"The total number of homeless persons has increased by 12% since 2022 into 2023," Michael Hart, the executive director of the Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board said.
From 2010 to 2020, Hart said this number was decreasing, but now numbers have been increasing since the pandemic.
Ann Ebbert, the CEO and president of Cherry Street Mission Ministries, said there are two reasons for this.
"One, we see a huge increase in inflation," Ebbert said. "And so individuals who are in poverty already and then the rising cost of everything, particularly rent, is making it very difficult for them to hang on and maintain housing for themselves and for their family."
The second reason is mental health situations, whether it is isolation, fear or already existing conditions.
Ebbert said Cherry Street Mission Ministries are seeing an increase in sheltering services that aligns with the national trend.
"Ever since the pandemic, we have seen an increase year over year for the last three years," she said. "From last year to this year, we saw an 11% increase and we saw an 11% increase in need the previous year as well."
In 2023, Cherry Street Mission Ministries served 1,867 individuals. Ebbert said there's been an increase in first-time homelessness as well. To help individuals, Cherry Street Mission Ministries offers services like a workforce development program.
"At Cherry Street, one of the things that, particularly for first-time homeless, individuals can take advantage of is our workforce development programming," Ebbert said. "That is everything from finding a job and giving them assistance to connect to employers, all the way to getting a certificate from one of our local community colleges."
Hart pointed out the funding that was given to provide resources during the pandemic.
"We as a country invested in historic fashion in resources to keep people housed or quickly resolve their homelessness," he said. "As we see those dollars that were dedicated through COVID be depleted, they're not being replaced by ongoing funds."