(NewsNation) — The number of people experiencing homelessness is broadly increasing, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Homelessness was up in 100 of 150 locations, cities and states, according to the report, which used data from 150 entities that count homeless people.
The analysis found that homelessness is on the rise in most major urban areas such as Chicago, Miami, Boston and Phoenix.
NewsNation saw the problem firsthand in Phoenix last month when local officials took action to tear down a massive tent city and worked to move the people living there into shelters.
The issue is visible in a smaller scale in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Additionally, a shelter opened just days ago in upstate New York is already full.
“Before the city put these gates on, this was the bathroom and every morning I came out and shoveled human feces and urine and scrubbed it all down every day,” Phoenix art gallery owner Joel Coplin previously told NewsNation.
Sybil Newell, the executive director of Rise Healthy Housing and Support Services in New York, told NewsNation’s affiliate WTEN the narrative that people want to be on the street rather than in a house is “completely false.”
“I think this shelter is really showing that,” Newell said. “On the first night, all 30 beds were full and on the second night, we added five more.”
Nationally in 2022, homelessness was up 0.3% compared to 2020.
That slight uptick is due to pandemic programs that helped keep people housed, the federal government has said.