On one day every January, a Point-in-Time — or PIT — Count is conducted in counties to document the number of people who are experiencing homelessness on a single night. The PIT Count in Collier County this past January found a 230% increase in the number of people over the age of 60 who were homeless as compared to the previous year. Overall, there was a 52% increase year over year of homeless individuals in Collier County.
There are a number of overlapping factors leading to the increase: starting with high housing costs, plus the impacts from Hurricane Ian and to some degree the Covid-19 pandemic — all topped off with high costs due to inflation.
This spike among seniors got the attention of the Wall Street Journal, and they recently published a feature story highlighting the growing crisis of homelessness among the senior population and used Collier County and Naples as one example.
So, we check in with Steve Brooder, he's the CEO of St. Matthew’s House in Naples, to get a sense of what they’re facing. The 35-year-old faith-based nonprofit works to provide assistance to people experiencing homelessness, and addiction, and they provide meals and help people find employment.
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