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Homelessness in Jefferson County

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Contributed by: Nadine Kerstetter on 8/10/2007

Homelessness data now available for each county in Metropolitan Denver

Homelessness looks different in Jefferson County in comparison to other six metro counties.

Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI), a nonprofit organization that seeks to end homelessness across the metropolitan Denver area, has released homeless data for each of the seven counties and six cities within its Continuum of Care.

Individual county homeless data tables are derived from the annual "Point-in-Time" study conducted by MDHI during winter 2007. Volunteers conducted interviews with homeless individuals and families in emergency shelters and human service organizations across the metropolitan area on January 29 & 30, 2007.

The purpose of the annual Point-in-Time study is to count the number of homeless individuals on one day of the year and to educate citizens about the presence of homelessness within their own communities. This January, 8,482 homeless people were counted across the seven-county region.

"Homelessness does not look the same in Jefferson County as it does in Denver County." says Jean Tutolo, Executive Director of Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative. "Each county's homeless population is unique. In some counties, homeless families live "doubled up" with family and friends, while in other counties homeless families pay weekly rents to live in dilapidated motels. Local data tables provide a picture of homelessness in a specific community allowing each community to respond in a meaningful way."

In Jefferson County, 1,185 homeless people were identified.

"It should disturb leaders in business, community, civic and government to learn that there are 1,185 homeless people in Jefferson County. We have folks living on the streets, in their cars, in local motels, doubled up with friends family--all are unstable situations." said Mag Strittmatter, Jeffco Action Center's Executive Director. "The faces of the homeless in Jeffco are that of individuals, couples and families; children and adults who have fallen through the cracks and are struggling to simply survive, especially in a county with perceived affluence."

Jeffco Action Center is a nonprofit organization, based in Lakewood, serving Jefferson County residents with emergency services such as food, clothing and shelter and is one of several entities in Jefferson County looking at how the homelessness issue can be resolved over the long term.

Individual County and city reports can be found at Metro Denver Homeless Initiative's website at www.mdhi.org under "downloads."

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Nadine Kerstetter

Lakewood , CO

Nadine Kerstetter has posted 118 stories and 0 comments since joining on 7/16/2007. Nadine Kerstetter 's average story rating is 5.

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