Two-hundred thirty -- it's the number of homeless people counted in Orange County on the night of Jan. 6, a number that some homeless aid workers say is an underestimation of the true extent of the problem.
Perhaps more startling is that 30 percent of those counted were labeled "chronically homeless" -- a label given to those who have a disability and have been homeless for more than a year. That percentage is three times the national average.
Those and other statistics were announced Friday morning by local officials and homeless aid workers at a press conference at the HomeStart campus in Chapel Hill.
The announcement was followed by remarks from Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, who spoke of his vision for the region: " ... To ensure that every citizen of Durham and Orange County -- every citizen -- is known by a single name, 'neighbor,' and treated like one."
Craig Chancellor, president and chief executive officer of the Triangle United Way, echoed Mangano's optimism.
"When we look back at how we got here, how did we end up in a place of 600 kids being homeless?" Chancellor said. "Our vision may be blurry, but as we look forward, out vision is clear."
Those 600 children account for one-third of the 1,800 homeless people in the Triangle area.
Billie Guthrie of the Community Initiative to End Homelessness said children are the fastest-growing part of the homeless population.
To try to bring down those numbers, local officials are working with the Interagency Council on Homelessness to develop a 10-year plan to end homelessness.
