City staff say about 1,400 people are experiencing homelessness; dashboard and winter shelter efforts highlighted

Council reviewed the Homeless Services Advisory Committee annual report and heard public comment urging further action. Resident Victoria Peterson pressed for counts and outreach activities; Community Safety staff responded with the city's best available figures and an overview of operational work.

Dan Vance (Community Safety) said the city's best numbers indicate about 1,400 people currently experiencing homelessness in Durham; that total corresponds to roughly 650 unsheltered households (a figure that the staff described as including families, medically vulnerable people, youth and young adults). Vance pointed council to a newly released public dashboard with disaggregated data and an inflow-vs-outflow chart that staff said is central to tracking whether homelessness is increasing or decreasing month to month.

Vance also described the city's street outreach work: over the last six to seven months outreach teams have engaged an estimated 150–200 people living unsheltered and have been able to place about 15–20 of those individuals into housing or shelter. He emphasized that winter shelter efforts during two recent storms brought more than 200 people inside who otherwise would not have been sheltered. Vance said a homelessness strategic framework presentation is scheduled next week to outline approaches sourced from best practice and people with lived experience.

Councilmembers thanked staff for the work and asked for additional data clarifications (e.g., point‑in‑time counting schedules and reasons some components were deferred this year). Staff explained HUD timing rules for PIT counts (sheltered counts annually; unsheltered counts every other year) and said some unsheltered-count activities were deferred to focus on data strategy and community engagement.