Latest news with #HousingNeedsAssessment
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Homelessness increased in Northeast TN, according to 2025 PIT Count
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – In January, the annual Point in Time (PIT) count surveyed the number of unhoused people in Northeast Tennessee. Now, the results are in and show homelessness has nearly tripled since 2020. In 2020, the PIT count found nearly 400 people without housing. This year, the number is over 900. The annual survey is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in order for organizations and local governments to receive federal funding to combat homelessness. Volunteers and social service agency members spend a night finding unhoused individuals and interviewing them to try and analyze trends. PREVIOUS: Northeast Tennessee PIT Count organizer discusses importance of taking census on homelessness Opal Frye-Clark is the President of the Unity Housing board. She believes there are more unhoused people than the survey found. 'This is a snapshot within a 24-hour period of time that you go out into the community, and you try to physically count the number of individuals experiencing homelessness,' said Frye-Clark. 'While there was a specific number that yielded results from this year, it doesn't necessarily encompass everybody that's experiencing homelessness.' Terry Burdett is the Homeless Management Information Systems Manager at the Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness (ARCH). He said there are multiple reasons the number has increased, including rent hikes. 'We have an affordable rental housing problem, and our older folks that are on fixed incomes, they're struggling in our communities,' said Burdett. 'I'm not saying that we've got this huge increase on elderly homeless, but our demographics are aging just a little bit every year.' In Johnson City, rent has increased from 12% to over 17%, according to the 2025 Housing Needs Assessment. Report details changes in Johnson City housing Burdett also noted that 10% of the respondents said they are homeless due to Hurricane Helene. Both Frye-Clark and Burdett said the public can help by donating or volunteering at local homeless assistance centers and shelters. 'If you're going to get involved, I would check out the organizations that are already doing things,' Frye-Clark said. 'Support your local government in making decisions to increase the amount of housing opportunities for local individuals in the area.' 'A lot of our grants help with rental assistance,' said Burdett, 'but then we have the issues with 'how about kitchenware?', you know, dining stuff, a bed to sleep on, a couch to sit on. So those are things that are difficult to pay with the grants, but funding outside the grants system can help us.' The PIT count also showed an increase in unhoused people with severe mental health and substance abuse issues. 40% of those surveyed struggled with one or both of those factors. Burdett said he thinks there is no reason to believe these solely contribute to homelessness. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Report details changes in Johnson City housing
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Thursday morning, the City of Johnson City released its 2025 Housing Needs Assessment. The report analyzes certain trends and conditions to predict changes in housing needs in the next few years. The last housing assessment took place in 2023. Lexi Vance, Johnson City's economic development specialist, said there were many factors leading up to the decision to have an assessment. 'Around 2020, we saw a little bit of a spike in population and then we started seeing all these accolades roll in for Johnson City about us being a great place to live and then we also start seeing national headlines about a national housing affordability crisis,' Vance said. Vance said the report led to the city wondering where people were going to live. The 2023 housing assessment showed a housing gap of under 5,000 units. Back in January, the city decided to do another assessment to see if that number had changed. They found the gap had increased by almost 600 units. 'If you have children, if you have students you really like, if you have employees you really, like that may be younger, you want to keep them, and if there's nowhere for them to live, we risk losing them to other communities,' Vance said. Vance said the report also analyzes housing prices. She compared the findings in the 2023 and 2025 reports. 'For a single-family home, that actually fell by about $40,000, which we thought that was great news,' she said. Along with housing prices, Vance said there were changes in rent. 'We saw annual rent increases of 12% to 17.5% in that year. Our income went up quite a bit and we also saw more people become house owners or homeowners.' Vance said the new report will help the city make plans for the future. 'What it means is that we're trying to be smart about how we grow and prepare for a larger and healthy city.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
City of Colorado Springs launches housing needs assessment
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — On Monday, April 14, the City of Colorado Springs announced that it is seeking a clearer picture of the housing supply, challenges, and needs across El Paso County with a regional Housing Needs Assessment. The housing assessment hopes to result in a series of geographic-specific recommendations for the City of Colorado Springs and Unincorporated El Paso County across several areas. Recommendations could include financing, funding, and partnering options, along with needs for specific housing groups, such as seniors, workforce housing needs, and low-income earners. The City is asking people to fill out a survey on its website to help determine community challenges, goals, and needs. 'Better understanding the housing needs of our growing region will prepare us to meet the needs of our region and our community,' said Aimee Cox, the City's Chief Housing & Homelessness Officer. 'This assessment can give data to support strategic planning, informed policy decisions, and collaborative partnerships across El Paso County. We encourage residents to share their perspectives to help guide this work.' The City said that while data will be collected for Calhan, Green Mountain Falls, Fountain, Monument, Palmer Lake, and Ramah, the assessment will not provide recommendations or prescribe actions for how these jurisdictions could use the data. Those decisions and actions rest under the leadership of each municipality. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
BBC News
06-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Plan for 84 homes on former magistrates' court site in Sale
Plans to build more than 80 homes on the site of a former magistrates' court are due to be considered by Council wants to build the houses, including 21 affordable homes, where Trafford Magistrates' Court used to be based on Ashton Lane in homes would include solar panels and battery storage to reduce future energy bills for authority said the scheme would help deliver "much-needed new, high quality energy efficient homes in the borough". 'Feels special' Councillor Liz Patel said: "The Sale magistrates' court housing development is a flagship scheme and meets the council's policy of building more housing on brownfield sites, with 25 per cent affordable homes."The amended application focuses on the delivery of energy efficient homes in response to the demand highlighted in the recent Housing Needs Assessment. "There is a terrible shortage of housing nationally, and we are pushing ahead and building as many new and affordable homes as we can across the borough."The planning committee will examine the application for 84 homes to be built on the one-hectare site off Ashton Lane and Washway Road at its meeting on 13 March. The council said local developer PIC Homes would deliver the scheme "alongside an experienced team of Trafford based contractors".Co-owner of PIC Homes, Armaan Chohan, who lived in Sale for 15 years and went to Ashton-on-Mersey school, said it "feels special to be able to give back to the local area". "We are really pleased to be working with Trafford Council to develop much-needed family homes," he added. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
