LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Homelessness has increased in Las Vegas and across the nation according to preliminary numbers from the 2022 Homeless Point-In-Time Count & Survey.
An analysis of the 20 communities nationwide with the highest rates of homelessness showed Las Vegas with the eighth-highest increase over the past two years — almost 7%. The nationwide analysis showed Sacramento with the highest increase, nearly 70%, according to analysis by The Associated Press.
Nationwide, homelessness is up almost 3% according to the preliminary numbers.
Kristen Aviles is the director of Client Services at HopeLink of Southern Nevada, a nonprofit organization preventing homelessness through rapid housing.
“We get hundreds of calls a day from people looking for rental assistance or emergency shelter,” Aviles said. “We do have capacity of how much we can accept at any given time, so we try to take 50 per day for rental assistance and we have a waiting list for emergency shelter about 50 people or families in our waiting program.”
