FARGO, N.D. (KVRR KFGO) – Demand for homeless shelters and services in the metro has increased dramatically, and the need outweighs the community’s ability to meet it, local harm reduction leaders told the Fargo Human Rights Commission on Wednesday.
The Fargo-Moorhead area saw close to a 70% increase in people who identified as homeless in 2023 compared to 2022 statistics, and there are more people experiencing homelessness in the F-M metro than in all of the rest of North Dakota combined.
From July 2022 to June of 2023, the Homelessness Crisis line operated by Presentation Partners and FirstLink saw a 65% increase in calls from people who were at risk of being unhoused over the previous year.
The most recent United Way statistics show that around 1000 people experience homelessness locally, with two hundred of those being kids.
“In terms of demand for shelter the two fastest growing segments that we see are seniors over the age of 55 and children under the age of five so kind of like both ends of that demographic spectrum seem to be growing and of course those are the two ends of the demographic spectrum that are some of the most vulnerable in our community,” said Churches United’s Pastor Sue Koesterman.
Harm reduction leaders in Fargo say there are 330 shelter beds available with 480 people attempting to access emergency shelter on an average night.
“It is unlikely those numbers will go down,” said Chandler Esslinger, community liaison at Fargo Cass Public Health in the Harm Reduction division.
She said 70% of people waiting for housing in North Dakota are in Fargo and the current waitlist for housing is, “lengthy and congested.” The average time an individual waits between when they are assessed for housing assistance and when they are actually housed is 7-8 months. The vacancy rate in the metro is “extremely” low, at 3%.
Jan Anderson, Homeless Liaison for Fargo Public Schools, discussed how youth homelessness has a severe effect on their mental health and academics caused by instability.
“Usually it isn’t because they don’t have the academic ability. It’s because they’re moving around so much that they start losing their credit accrual and it starts in kindergarten and first grade when they start missing,” said Anderson.
Human Rights Commission members pressed city leaders to speak to the root causes of homelessness in the community.
“I think when we consider root causes of homelessness you can make a direct link to the level of economic instability that exists in the community and so when people are unable to sustain everything it takes to be housed, to navigate life to have a job that pays all your bills, that’s what it really boils down to,” Esslinger said.
Esslinger said action was necessary to reduce and eliminate barriers to tenancy that exist for many unhoused people.
Anderson agreed, saying more affordable housing would help homeless kids and that there was a need for “low-barrier landlords.” She said most of the families she works with, despite many working 2-3 jobs, do not have credit and need someone to co-sign on leases, and many landlords are reluctant to rent to families who might not meet the usual requirements.
