Homeless Crisis Deepens in Colorado Springs With 52 Percent Jump

By Debbie Kelley | The Gazette

A record-high spike of people living on the streets and in homeless shelters and supported housing programs in El Paso County is reflected in data released Monday from this year’s federally required Point-in-Time and Housing Inventory Count.

The number of people countywide who described themselves as homeless on the night of Jan. 26 ballooned from 1,146 in 2024, to 1,745 people this year, according to the statistics presented by the survey administrator, Pikes Peak Continuum of Care, a group of service providers and other members.

That’s a 52% increase year-over-year and tops the county’s 2018 record of 1,551.

“This data should be interpreted with context and caution,” Becky Treece, chair of the governing board of the continuum of care said at a press conference. “It is widely understood to be undercounted.”

The survey doesn’t include people in institutions such as rehab facilities, hospitals or jails, for example.

Also this year, the number of “unsheltered” people who live in encampments and other uninhabitable places more than doubled to 522.

In 2024, there were 259 “unsheltered” — the fewest in that category since 2015.

And the chronic street population, those who have a physical, mental or developmental disability and have been homeless for at least one year, is at 644. Compare that with 282 chronically homeless in last year’s survey.

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