With expanded coverage and new tools, 2025 Point-in-Time Count identifies 887 experiencing homelessness in North Central Florida
Press release from Task Force Fore Ending Homelessness
NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA — The results of the 2025 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count conducted in North Central Florida have been released, showing that 887 individuals were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January, including 436 sheltered and 451 unsheltered individuals.
The county breakdown is as follows:
- Alachua County: 746 (last year’s count was 644)
- Bradford County: 25
- Dixie County: 2
- Levy County: 38
- Putnam County: 76
Key highlights from this year’s data expose the ongoing housing crisis across all communities in the region. Among those counted were 60 children under 18, 266 adults over 55, 128 military veterans, and 43 survivors of domestic violence.
The PIT Count, a federally mandated annual effort required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is designed to estimate the needs and number of individuals and families experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. In 2025, the TaskForce, serving as the DCF and HUD-designated CoC Lead Agency, introduced a range of innovative improvements to expand the reach and accuracy of the effort.
“This year’s count was the most comprehensive and coordinated to date,” said Jacob Torner, Vice President of Programs at the TaskForce Fore Ending Homelessness. “We implemented new cutting-edge technology and expanded coverage across all counties in our region to ensure no one was missed, including those still displaced by the hurricanes we endured this past year.”
Key advancements in 2025 included:
- Full county-level survey coverage across Alachua, Bradford, Dixie, Gilchrist, Levy, and Putnam Counties
- Deployment of a custom digital survey application for field teams
- Real-time GIS tracking for improved resource management
- Dynamic reallocation of volunteers and surveyors to priority areas based on live data
The TaskForce collaborated with more than 100 community organizations, public safety agencies, volunteers, and local officials to execute the count.
“These numbers are more than statistics—they reflect real people facing real challenges, including vulnerable seniors, veterans, and children,” said Torner. “This data allows us to better strategize and implement the targeted solutions our region urgently needs. Very importantly, we hope it inspires the community to join us in the effort to end veteran homelessness in North Central Florida by 2026.”
They pick the coldest month of the year, January, when half the bums are in South Florida or somewhere else warmer? Sounds legit.
Yes, that’s right. It’s done in the winter to increase the chance people will be in shelters and a more accurate count can be identified. And oh, it’s done nationally.
The mother load is here because Grace Mkt attracts them like a roach motel …coming soon to kirkwood neighborhood to those motels on SW 13th st they are converting at taxpayer expense to give them a place to shoot-up and crap-up…
Nice to see those liberal policies are working.
How many of those in the neat categories are bums, druggies and drunks that Ward ‘welcomes’? I agree that OUR true homeless need our help, but the dregs of society drawn by Poe, Ward, et al, not so much. Notice how few are in our surrounding counties?
Homeless people don’t go to poor locations with few people unless they are native and can’t or don’t want to leave.
Schizophrenic people gravitate toward urban environments with lots of sight, sounds, and activity. That’s why you find so many flocking together downtown and near The Standard/campus/Publix. It’s a symptom of their mental illness.
Not to mention the men in the surrounding areas would likely round them up in the middle of the night if their numbers started to get out of hand. Here, we have the stupidest women in the state who think it’s hip to caaaare sooo much about the literal dregs of society – and the weakest beta men who kowtow to the brainless women (like you).
Seek help
Well, the gravitational pull exerted on several bodily masses has definitely pulled them towards Main & University.
They seem to be stuck in some kind of eternal recurrence and unable to escape panhandling at that intersection.
Either that or it’s Groundhog Day in Gainesville – every day.
The downtown numbers of the homeless are significantly and noticeably much less than before Grace, when many lived in Bo Diddley Plaza. Most commenting here hate Grace, but without a viable alternative given you don’t want to pay for anything and somehow think jail is cheap.
Apparently neither does a majority of those who grace the pages of the Alachua Chronicle.
I don’t hate Grace; I hate what it’s bringing to the community.
Obviously the stats show Alachua county is a MAGNET and whirlpool they can’t escape from. As designed by Dem elites from lawyers to NGOs dependent on human misery for their jobs.
Nothing will change until said leadership changes.
ACLUSPLCDNC 🤡💩👹👿👺
“If you build it, they will come.”