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Homelessness isn’t just a problem in New Jersey cities. It’s impacting many suburban areas as well, but it may be less visible if people without homes congregate in wooded areas and behind shopping centers. Five years ago, 8,097 people were identified as being unhoused during a federally mandated point-in-time count that is conducted annually. Last year, that number spiked to 13,748, an increase of almost 70%.

Data collected during the count, which took place Feb. 4, is used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine federal and state assistance for people who are homeless.

Some homeless individuals find shelter from freezing temperatures in train stations, on buses and in warming centers, while others remain outside with their belongings in shopping carts and bags.

Crystal DeLeon spends much of her time sitting outside a laundromat on the Trenton-Ewing border. She said she has been living on the street for seven years and she cannot go to a shelter because of a spinal issue, but she feels happy to be alive.

“I’m emotionally shook that I made it, because I’m not even supposed to be standing, because I can’t move from here right now,” she said.

Tip of the iceberg

The actual number of people without a home is much higher than the number of people who get counted, said Kasey Vienckowski, leader of the Homeless Planning Team at Monarch Housing Associates. The nonprofit organization assists communities with plans to end homelessness and expand affordable housing.

“They are avoiding service providers, or sometimes during the coldest of the winter months they may find some place to temporarily shelter,” Vienckowski said.

She said individuals who couch surf, going from friend to friend for a place to sleep for days or weeks on end, are not technically counted as homeless because they are sleeping in a permanent residence for a period of time.

Taiisa Kelly, Monarch’s CEO, agreed that the point-in-time count, which has been done for more than a decade, is really just the tip of the homeless iceberg.

“It does provide a consistent assessment of trends over time, but it doesn’t provide a comprehensive picture of every single person experiencing homelessness,” she said.

Each county has a point-in-time coordinator, and when the count is conducted, multiple teams are dispatched to shelters, parks, train stations, soup kitchens, homeless encampments and other areas, asking individuals where they slept the previous night and offering them referrals to warming centers and various assistance programs.