City and county leaders announce progress in finding housing for Pittsburgh's homeless population
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - City and county leaders have said that they are making progress in finding housing for the homeless population, saying that the number of tents in Pittsburgh is at the lowest level it's been in years.
They also said they're not done yet.
From the Allegheny County Jail to over to the Liberty Bridge, right up against the Parkway East, up until this weekend, people lived here and at one point, 50 tents were on the ground.
As of this past weekend, there are now none.
It's a pretty dramatic change from the past several months, where once tents nearly completely covered the ground and now it's totally cleared.
"As you can see, we have dramatically reduced the number of people sleeping outside across the city," said Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato. "The number of tents across the city is the lowest they have been in years."
Those remarks were made at a press conference on Monday held by city and county leaders, standing right in front of where all those tents used to be. Instead of chasing the people who were there away or threatening arrest, the city, county, and homeless advocates approached them after an alternative living situation was already set up.
According to the city and county leaders, every single person took them up on the offer.
"Is this region unique in its success in dealing with the unhoused? People say so, we have received a tremendous number of calls from other cities and I know our outreach staff are often called and invited to even international conferences," said Lisa Frank, the City of Pittsburgh's Chief Operating and Administrative Officer.
Jordan Kullen jogs past her most days and has watched the dramatic change happen in real-time.
"I came through here and I was really surprised," he said. "There were probably 10, 15 tents through here and now they're all gone."
That encampment near the jail and another one on the Northside have been cleared and while there is still one other to go on on the South Side, it's of a larger variety.
"We on any given night have far less than 200 people staying outside," said Erin Dalton, Director of Allegheny County Department of Human Services. "Our goal, as you can see, is to close down a number of camps and move people inside."
"I know it's been a rough and tough fight, but we did it," added Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey.
So, from the new signs that say "No Camping Here" the only thing that we could find that was left behind, it's otherwise totally clear.
All in all, this program has been an extreme success.
