The Housing Crisis and Homelessness within Our Community 

Each year on a single night in the last week of January, a count of people experiencing homelessness in shelters and on the streets is conducted in Monroe County by Partners Ending Homelessness (PEH).*

 

In 2024, the count found that 1,056 families were experiencing homelessness in shelters and 80 families were living unsheltered in Monroe County, representing a 25% increase from 2023 to 2024.

 

This year’s count was conducted on January 23rd. The data is being entered into the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and the official report will be released in April.

 

*The data collected from the homeless Point-in-Time (PIT) Count is reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The PIT count doesn’t assess the full scope of homelessness but it helps to inform policymaking and allocate funding to regional bodies that coordinate homeless services.

“The average number of households in emergency housing on any given day is close to 300,” said Becky Miglioratti, Community Homeless Coordinator for Monroe County. “That’s double the number of families we were working with before the pandemic.”

 

“The current state of homelessness is being driven by the aftereffects of the pandemic,” she said, citing the extension of the NYS Eviction Moratorium during COVID as one of the factors leading to it. “Many landlords went years without collecting rental payments, so they have become more selective with their tenants and increased their rental costs in an effort to recoup their losses during the pandemic.”

 

Fear of communal living during COVID led to an extreme decrease in people accessing emergency housing. Stimulus checks and increased unemployment benefits kept people afloat for a couple of years, but by the time those benefits dried up, the housing market had gone haywire and rental costs had skyrocketed.

 

“Apartments that had historically been affordable on temporary assistance,” explained Miglioratti, “are now out of reach for the majority of those people.”

 

With landlords requiring three times the amount of rent to qualify for units, more people are looking for emergency housing and staying much longer than ever before. Finding and sustaining affordable housing is nearly impossible for people living in poverty, even with employment.

 

“Emergency housing is the only option for most families in situational homelessness,” she said, “which is often driven by loss of employment, fire, domestic violence, substance issues, or mental health behaviors.”

 

Eviction by primary tenant is the leading reason for homelessness; however, the number of legal evictions resulting in homelessness is on the rise. With the degree of poverty in Rochester, friends and family have doubled and tripled up, putting a strain on the primary tenant, ultimately leading to eviction.

 

“Some people do choose to live outside, for a number of reasons,” Miglioratti said, “but families do not choose to be homeless.” 

The Rochester community receives up to 17 million dollars annually from HUD for housing and support services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Partners Ending Homelessness is the Continuum of Care (CoC) lead for Monroe County. Miglioratti sits on the PEH board and serves as project manager for their Project Anchor Shelter Supplement Program.

 

“Our team makes all of the placements into county funded homeless shelters,” she said. “We are the entry point for placing families into shelters, and we provide ongoing support with Temporary Assistance applications and permanent housing resources.”

 

Miglioratti and her team intersect with the Rochester Police Department and Person Centered Housing Options for community outreach, and the Office of Mental Health to provide support services, in addition to leading eviction prevention programs and coordinating state grants and community initiatives to end homelessness.

 

“Since the pandemic, there has been an increase in the number of families living in their cars,” said  Miglioratti. She explained that many parents have jobs that require them to work overnight shifts, and children under 18 can’t be left unsupervised in emergency housing.

 

“There is a fear or misperception that CPS will take the children away from a family experiencing homelessness,” said Miglioratti, “which is not the case.”

“The intent of CPS is never about removal,” Miglioratti said. “The state of homelessness or poverty doesn’t mean that parents are not taking care of their children.”

 

If a child is living on the streets, the City of Rochester’s Person In Crisis (PIC) team responds immediately to bring them indoors. CPS intervention involves temporary housing, safety planning and other support services, but rarely removal.

 

“Sometimes CPS has to be called in these situations,” she said, “but the goal is to keep the family together somewhere indoors in temporary housing, while we connect them to various resources.”

 

Miglioratti said that one of the repercussions of homelessness on children is that they stop going to school. In addition to plummeting attendance rates, another consequence for children is missing out on meals provided at school.

 

CPS caseworkers and shelter case managers help to secure transportation to school through the district for children experiencing homelessness, despite families being temporarily displaced.

 

“A misperception is that CPS is punitive,” she said, “but the truth is that they ensure families get the help they need to adequately care for their children.”