Lewiston point-in-time count: 101 people unsheltered in January 2025; youth center urges more housing

Michelle King, co-founder and volunteer president of the LC Valley Youth Resource Center, told the Lewiston City Council the region’s January 29, 2025 HUD point-in-time count recorded 101 unsheltered people in Lewiston.

King said the count — the most conservative HUD measure because it only includes people located in person and sleeping in places not meant for human habitation — found 42 people living in vehicles, 33 sleeping outdoors, and eight in tents or farm buildings. Twelve were under 18; 17 were veterans; 13 were fleeing domestic violence. Sixty-one people identified a disability, 40 of whom reported a serious mental illness and 16 reported a substance use disorder.

“On January 29th, 2025, there were 101 that we counted in Lewiston,” King told council. She emphasized that point-in-time figures understate the housing need because they exclude people doubled up in others’ homes or staying in motels.

King described how the region’s move to digital data collection in 2024 gave the city its first Lewiston-specific count rather than a regionally apportioned estimate. She said most people counted were local to the valley, with 46 naming Lewiston as a last address and local service providers — including Salvation Army, meal sites and the Lewiston Police Department — assisting volunteers in locating encampments.

Councilors asked about trends and where residents should refer people for assistance. King said Idaho Region 2’s access point, Sojourners’ Alliance, is the coordinated entry resource that fields calls and directs people to appropriate shelter, domestic-violence, or family resources. She said district schools reported 146 students under McKinney-Vento protections as of Feb. 26, 2025, a broader measure that includes doubled-up households.

King told the council that while emergency shelters and services remain vital, the long-term solution is more housing supply across price tiers; she urged council to consider housing production alongside social supports. She said updated data will be available after the next annual count and offered to provide deeper breakdowns on request.

Next steps: councilors and city staff said they would use the data in future planning and noted Idaho Housing resources and an upcoming housing/economic summit in Boise for additional local strategies.