Homeless encampments throughout Central Florida have drifted further from the urban core, popping up in greater densities in the suburbs in all directions from downtown Orlando as people seek to to evade attention or arrest, advocates believe.
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That shift, they say, helps explain numbers released Tuesday from the annual three-day count of the region’s homeless population in January. The survey found that people who slept outside or in their cars was at 993, up 133% since 2022 but slightly down from last year.
Overall, including those sleeping in shelter beds, January’s homeless count stood at 2,724, nearly identical to January 2024. About 100 more people than last year were sleeping at shelters – highlighting the slight uptick of available bed space – and about 100 fewer were counted outside.
Those who work with the region’s homeless say the numbers are enlightening, but fail to tell the true story of the growth and the shifts of the population without shelter.
It’s become harder to find people to count as they stray further from the streets and sidewalks of downtown — and it’s become even more difficult to convince those on the streets to participate in the survey.
“We connect that to the fear,” said Martha Are, the CEO of the Homeless Services Network, at a press conference at the First United Methodist Church in Orlando. “We had more people who refused to answer the question at all.”
The federally mandated three-day count, which measures where a person slept on Jan. 25, is generally seen as an undercount as encampments are often purposely set up to avoid detection deep in woods and other secluded areas. But it offers a snapshot of a region’s battle with homelessness.
Homeless service providers have also struggled to track encampments following the passing of anti-camping legislation in Florida which went into effect last year. The law requires local governments to respond to complaints about encampments and clear them, or they could be subject to lawsuits. But doing so typically leads to people to simply move elsewhere, often further from public view.
Unsurprisingly, the highest numbers were in Orange, where 1,979 were counted. Of those, 667 were considered “unsheltered,” sleeping outside or in their cars and not in shelter beds.
In Osceola, 382 were counted, including 189 unsheltered. And in Seminole, 363 were counted with 137 unsheltered.
Orange and Osceola saw 3% and 2% growth in the homeless population respectively, while Seminole’s total dipped 17%.
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Among the unsheltered, 53% were found on streets or sidewalks, 27% were in the woods or encampments and 8% slept in their vehicles. Smaller percentages were found in places like abandoned buildings, under highway bridges or other areas.
Niki, who has been homeless since 2006, said at the press conference that her life was thrown into chaos after being in three car accidents in 2005, leaving her with a traumatic brain injury. Prior to the crashes she had a full-time job and was a student, but suffered short-term memory loss after the wrecks.
When she was on the streets, she said she worried about the police arresting her or others harming her. Now, she sleeps in a week-to-week hotel on East Colonial Drive.
“It’s one of those areas where I don’t even call it living on the street – I call it surviving,” she said.
Niki represents a growing demographic, as more than 25% of unsheltered people were women.
Additionally, more than 20% of them reported being a victim of domestic violence.
“Being in an abusive relationship shouldn’t lead to you sleeping outside,” Are said. “We can do better than that.”
The homeless population is also getting older, with 715 people counted who were 55 or above, including a 6% increase year over year.
Among seniors, 205 people were 65 years or older, and about half of them had never been homeless before.
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