PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Local Pinellas leaders gave an update on the state of homelessness in the County.
Officials say the number of people who are homeless is rising in Pinellas County and they're desperately trying to amplify the message that people need help.
"It saved my life coming here," said Matt White, a client with Homeless Empowerment Program (HEP).
White has struggled to find housing for years and said when he came to the program, he received help.
"They should have more places like HEP, especially for veterans," said White.
He said it's critical for people who are homeless to have access to resources.
"When COVID happened I remember them raising rent like 40 and 50% on people know that they had no job, so that caused even more homelessness," said White.
According to leaders with the Homeless Leadership Alliance, Pinellas County is currently ranked fifth in Florida for the number of people who are homeless.
"One of the reports that we received stated that we have about two thousand clients that are literally homeless," said Daisy Corea, CEO of the organization.
Corea explained what's driving those numbers.
"We do have a large population of veterans that come to this county because we have the beaches and everything and the climate, the weather is nicer here, so we do have a bigger population of clients coming here," said Corea.
Recently, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new law that would ban people who are homeless from sleeping in public places or in parks, and Corea said it could make things worse.
"We don't want this bill to criminalize our homeless," said Corea.
Local organizations said with the recent legislation they are expecting the number of people who are homeless to increase in the area and now they are trying to come up with a plan to help.
Corea said her organization is working in partnership with non-profits like the Homeless Empowerment Program to find more housing for people.
"We want to make sure we can provide assistance, but again we do have a big inflow of clients coming into the county and we don't have enough resources," said Corea.
"To help people more. Times are tough right now," said White.
