‘We are seeing real pain.’ Kingston nonprofit struggles to help growing number of homeless in Kingston during extreme heat and severe storms

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Drive through the City of Kingston these days and you’ll probably notice an alarming number of homeless people on the streets. People, even a disabled senior in a wheelchair, can be seen sleeping on benches and carting their belongings in shopping carts and suitcases. One senior was photographed in the city by a resident sleeping and begging for food, carrying a sign that reads “homeless, scared, alone.” “We are seeing real pain,” says Family of Woodstock Inc. director Michael Berg. The nonprofit runs all four of Ulster County’s homeless shelters as well as two transitional housing programs. It also rents apartments for homeless housing using federal and state aid. Berg, however, says they can’t keep up with the increase in people struggling to find shelter. “One of the things we’re seeing that we’ve never saw before {is} homeless people that are working,” says Berg. “The increase in homelessness is so severe that the county is having to use motels out of the county.” Berg says houselessness in Kingston alone has nearly doubled in recent years. “When COVID happened, we were inundated with people coming up from the city buying houses. It was cheaper. It was safer. The impact on the cost of housing was huge. Then there was a group of people that bought up the majority of rental housing and jacked up the price.” Kingston officials have since voted to freeze rents and the county is working on building more affordable housing units. News 12 reached out to city and county officials about the local surge in homelessness. City officials said to contact the county and the county has not yet responded. Berg says area shelters can help about a hundred people but that there’s an estimated six times as many homeless in Kingston alone who are struggling in the extreme heat and storms. “The city is a really hard place to be even though there’s resources." If you or someone you know needs help with housing, call the Family of Woodstock Inc. by calling their 24/7 helpline at 845-338-2370 or the National Alliance to End Homelessness at 877-424-3838. "