The Homeless Alliance of WNY has released the results of their State of Homelessness 2011 for the federal reporting year October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011. The data used to create this report were compiled from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) as well as the annual Point in Time count, Housing Inventory Chart, Unsheltered Street Count, and the Erie County Department of Social Services and Veterans Administration.
Throughout the year of 2011, there were an estimated 5,050 people who experienced homelessness in Erie County and on any given night there were approximately 1,000 homeless people. These figures include people in Emergency Housing, Transitional Housing, Safe Havens, the unsheltered, and those taking part in the Code Blue Warming Center beds. Although the majority of homeless persons are single, the number of homeless families increased by 4% from 2010 to 29%.