More than 300 people were living in shelters or transitional housing in Ottawa County during a one-day homeless count on Jan. 29.
The Ottawa County Housing Coalition reported 307 adults and youth were staying at places like the Holland Rescue Mission or were sheltered in temporary housing by collaboratives like the Community Housing Partnership.
That number is higher than last year’s count, when 299 individuals living in shelters or transitional housing, said Lyn Raymond, coordinator for the Ottawa County Housing Coalition.
The count is meant to be a snapshot of how many people in the county are actually without shelter. The coalition is still working with county schools to determine how many more children or adolescents in the school systems may be considered homeless.
“ It doesn’t feel like a significant increase,” she said Friday. “But I would say that we’ve also helped families with rapid rehousing or homelessness prevention through the (federal) stimulus package, who could have been potentially homeless, too.”
The coalition in October received a federal stimulus grant for $475,000 to spend on homelessness prevention, for those who need rental assistance, and rapid rehousing, for those who are already homeless.
Since Oct. 1, they’ve helped 33 Ottawa County families find shelter with the grant.
Volunteers who scoured the streets of Holland overnight on Jan. 29 didn’t find any homeless people living outdoors, but volunteers in Grand Haven did, Raymond said.
Four people were counted either living on the street, sleeping in vehicles or hanging out in 24-hour stores in the Grand Haven area.
During last year’s count, the coalition reported no homeless people living on the street.
