The number of homeless people in South Dakota rose 17 percent in the last year. The results of the Statewide Point in Time Homeless Count have been released and found that 1,036 individuals were homeless on January 27th.
Twenty six percent of those were children under 18, and 13 percent were without any shelter that night. Lisa Bondy is a housing research and development officer with the South Dakota Housing for the Homeless Consortium. She says public meetings are being held across the state to develop the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness…..

The survey of homelessness in January also concluded that 17 percent were veterans, and 2 percent were unaccompanied children. All the individuals were asked about their situations and the barriers to finding homes and employment….

The ten-year plan is designed to increase awareness throughout the state and improve the coordination of resources to service providers and those suffering from homelessness. As the meetings are scheduled, they can be found at housing for the homeless dot org.