{"id":311,"date":"2026-06-03T16:09:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=311"},"modified":"2026-06-03T16:09:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:09:04","slug":"study-hurricane-helene-caused-spike-in-homelessness-in-north-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=311","title":{"rendered":"Study: Hurricane Helene caused spike in homelessness in North Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In 2024-25, while the United States saw a small overall decline in homelessness, North Carolina was moving rapidly in the other direction. The state experienced a 33% increase in homelessness \u2014 the largest percentage increase in the nation \u2014 according to the <\/span><\/p>\n

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North Carolina saw increases in every category, from homeless individuals and unaccompanied minors to families with children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The increase was driven largely by Hurricane Helene, which caused nearly 4,000 people to lose homes across western North Carolina in fall 2024. The region\u2019s count includes thousands of people enrolled in the federal disaster-related assistance program and living in hotels on the night the federally mandated point-in-time (PIT) count took place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The PIT count is an annual snapshot of the number of individuals in shelters, temporary housing and unsheltered on a single night. The most recent AHAR reflects the results of nationwide PIT counts, which took place in January 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liz Carbone with the N.C. Coalition to End Homelessness said the organization didn\u2019t find much particularly surprising in the report.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we saw in the AHAR that I think was really validating was the significant increase in homelessness in North Carolina as a direct result of the impacts of Hurricane Helene,\u201d Carbone said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The region continues to struggle because of significant infrastructure loss and the loss of affordable rental homes and naturally occurring affordable housing, Carbone said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe AHAR certainly backs that up and validates the crisis that is still unfolding,\u201dCarbone said. \u201cWe know our [service] providers in Western North Carolina, the rural communities, as well as in the cities of Asheville and Boone are still really struggling to find enough available resources, federal, state and otherwise, to meet the demand for housing placements.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Carbone said the AHAR offers a good guess at the number of people experiencing homelessness, but does not provide a complete picture. Individuals who apply for services, for example, are easily counted, but those who do not are often missed, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s always very hard to capture is all those hidden folks, the people we would call the hidden homeless, who are living in cars, sleeping in parking lots, transitioning from a hotel, maybe into a shelter for some period of time or onto a friend or family member\u2019s couch,\u201d Carbone said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emily Ball, homeless strategy division manager for the City of Asheville, said there\u2019s no way to know definitively what the Buncombe County data would have looked like if Helene did not occur.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut if we separate people who identified Helene as their cause of homelessness, it indicates that our population [of individuals experiencing homelessness] would have decreased in the 2025 count compared to the year prior,\u201d Ball said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The majority of people in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance program and staying in hotels were homeowners whose homes were damaged, Ball said. Per federal guidance, those homeowners were included in the annual count, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey stayed in a hotel while the home was being repaired, and then they were able to return home,\u201d Ball said. \u201cSo, it\u2019s difficult to look at the AHAR numbers for Buncombe County and understand the direct impact on homelessness, because it includes so many people who were in that FEMA hotel program.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The report, produced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), shows 15,512 individuals across North Carolina experiencing homelessness between 2024-25. Nearly 10,800 were sheltered and 4,800 were unsheltered, meaning they lived in places not meant for human habitation.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a large jump from the previous year, when the state reported a 19% increase with more than 11,600 experiencing homelessness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For individuals experiencing homelessness as compared to families, North Carolina led the nation with the largest percentage increase at 37% \u2014 Overall, 33 states reported increases in the number of homeless individuals. North Carolina, Oregon Utah, Mississippi and Colorado all reported increases of more than 20%.<\/span><\/p>\n

North Carolina also saw one of the largest increases in homeless families with children at 24.2%. It trailed Montana (24.9%) and Maryland, which saw a 35.8% increase in homeless families with children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

North Carolina had one of the largest increases \u2014 34.8% \u2014 in unaccompanied homeless youth. It also saw a 22.6% increase in individuals with chronic patterns of homelessness.<\/span><\/p>\n

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North Carolina\u2019s increased homelessness came amid a 3.4% decrease nationally. According to AHAR, there were 745,652 homeless persons in the United States in 2024-25. More than 266,300 individuals were living unsheltered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

California made up the highest share of all homeless individuals, with 30 percent of all homeless individuals in the United States located there, the report said.<\/span><\/p>\n

A decrease of 25,828 homeless persons across the country was largely driven by a 4% decline \u2014 16,931 people \u2014 in emergency shelter, and a 3% decline \u2014 7,904 people \u2014in unsheltered homeless people, the report said.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was an 11.3% decrease among families experiencing homelessness, a 7.9% reduction in homelessness among unaccompanied youth, a 2.9% decrease among people who are unsheltered and a 1.2% decrease among homeless veterans, the report said.<\/span><\/p>\n

National reactions are varied<\/h4>\n

In a press release accompanying the AHAR, HUD Secretary Scott Turner focused not on the decrease in homelessness but what he called a failed \u201chousing first\u201d policy that he said has resulted in a 27% increase in homelessness since 2013.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHousing first\u201d advocates prioritize providing permanent housing to individuals experiencing homelessness without required preconditions such as sobriety or mental health treatment. The Trump administration prefers a treatment approach first policy. It has been critical of the housing first policy, which HUD began to implement in 2013.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe data is clear that the status quo of \u2018housing first\u2019 has failed to meaningfully reduce homelessness, resulting in crisis levels of people living on the streets,\u201d Turner said in a statement. \u201cHUD is restoring its programs to advance recovery and self-sufficiency and to ensure that taxpayer-funded benefits serve American families.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

National advocates celebrated the national decrease in homelessness, but warned against further reductions in federal funding that could reverse the trend.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said the overall reductions in individuals and families experiencing homelessness are a relief, but that homelessness remains a crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHUD\u2019s data proves that even with the unrelenting demand for assistance, the housing-focused programs and strategies at the heart of homelessness response can and do work when they are appropriately resourced,\u201d Oliva said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Renee M. Willis, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said any reduction in the number of people forced to live on the street or at risk of losing their home is welcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we cannot ignore that effective federal solutions to end homelessness exist and are now under threat,\u201d Willis said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Homelessness is a \u201chousing issue,\u201d Willis said, and warned that the Trump administration \u201ccontinues to reduce investments in targeted federal affordable housing resources that could prevent homelessness from worsening.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Willis shared similar concerns in Raleigh last week during \u201cBringing It Home 2026,\u201d an annual statewide conference that brings together service providers, industry experts and advocates to discuss housing solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Knightdale, Janet Hocutt-Hairston, founder and executive director of Advocacy to Alleviate Homelessness, hadn\u2019t seen the AHAR, but has noticed a significant uptick in requests for assistance since about mid-2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The nonprofit offers programs to assist working individuals, families and veterans find housing, including temporary hotel shelter through its<\/span> Victory Program<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been an increase in individuals and single moms, most especially, seeking assistance,\u201d Hocutt-Hairston said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve actually placed single dads in temporary hotel shelters and whole families \u2026 It\u2019s surprising that it\u2019s that way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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