Congressman Maxwell Frost Statement on Homeless Services Network’s Latest Report Revealing Rise in Homelessness
New Data from Orlando HSN Reveals More than 40 Percent of Those Experiencing Homelessness Are Children and Seniors
ORLANDO, FL — Today, Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10) released a statement on Homeless Services Network's (HSN) new report which has found that more than 40% of Central Florida's homeless population are children and seniors, 55 years and older. The data comes from HSN’s annual point-in-time count, a census that takes place in communities across the country, which Congressman Frost participated in back in February.
This was the first Point-in-Time count to take place following Florida’s new state law banning public camping and public sleeping.
In a statement, Rep. Frost says:
“The latest report from Homeless Services Network revealing that 40% of our homeless population are children and seniors should alarm everyone. It’s unacceptable that in one of the richest countries in the world, thousands of children and seniors are sleeping on the street.
“This report comes at a time when Donald Trump and Elon Musk want to gut Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and food programs that our most vulnerable children and seniors count on to survive. For so many folks, these benefits are the difference between making rent and sleeping on the street. And while this Administration paves the way to make the rich richer, countless folks in Orlando and across the country have nowhere to sleep at night—and are even criminalized for it.
“We have to address the homelessness crisis in our region with the urgency it demands— and the answer isn’t criminalizing homelessness or taking away federal funds from organizations like the Homeless Services Network. It’s finding and investing in solutions that lift people out of poverty and ensuring everyone has the dignity of having a safe place to call home.”
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