Natrona County accounted for roughly half of Wyoming’s unsheltered homeless in January, coordinator says; council hears housing and service recommendations

Kelly Wessels, executive director of Community Action Partnership Healthcare for the Homeless and coordinator of the annual point-in-time count, told the Casper City Council on June 24 that Natrona County accounted for 51 of the 98 unsheltered individuals counted statewide on Jan. 25.

“That count occurs on January 25,” Wessels said, adding that “we accounted for almost 51% of the entire count of unsheltered individuals.” She told council members the statewide count is difficult in Wyoming because of weather and that only six of the state's 23 counties participated, which likely undercounts the true statewide total.

Wessels presented detailed local data: Natrona County counted 167 people experiencing homelessness across sheltered, unsheltered, and unstably housed categories; 44% of the local count met the federal definition of chronic homelessness, and 47% of chronically homeless people reported a disability. She said 23 individuals identified in the count required permanent supportive housing (PSH) because they could not manage housing independently.

Wessels outlined several strategies council and the community could pursue: expand the local navigation-center model beyond short respite hours to a more consistent, multidisciplinary site; deploy a mobile hygiene/shower and laundry unit to reduce health risks and improve access to services; and increase development of permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing units. She cited data showing an average coordinated-entry score near 12 (PSH threshold is 9) and said individual scores as high as 21 indicate severe need.

Wessels also described demographic trends: an overrepresentation of Indigenous people and people of color in the homeless population, a growing share of seniors (about 20% were age 55 or older and many experiencing their first episode of homelessness), and high rates of medical conditions and mobility device needs that complicate housing placement.

Council members and service providers in the room asked about behavioral health, substance-use services and service integration, financing options such as grants, and volunteer/developer engagement. Wessels said there are opportunities to improve administrative coordination at the county and regional level and noted that the community’s work was recognized by HUD for its point-in-time methodology. She recommended moving from study to action and said the county’s homelessness population has risen about 11% per year since 2022.

Wessels said the homelessness coalition meeting the following day would be an opportunity to pursue coordinated strategies; council did not vote on any ordinance or funding at the meeting.