Homelessness in St. Louis has increased by 25% from 2020 to 2025, according to Peter & Paul Community Services. Peter & Paul operates one of the primary shelters for people experiencing homelessness in the city.
Officials across the St. Louis area working to address homelessness called the upward trend a growing crisis during the first State of Homelessness event held at the Peter & Paul Community Campus on Thursday.
"I think we start with acknowledging that we have a crisis and the resources the city government has to address the crisis are not sufficient," said Adam Pearson, director of the St. Louis Department of Human Services.
Over 150 organizations and individuals — including from St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles County — are involved in Continuum of Care. It's a federal program that is adapted by local governments to work toward ending homelessness in their communities.
Tracking how many individuals experience homelessness is a challenge, but city and partner organizations like Peter & Paul Community Services conduct what's called a Point-in-Time count on a single night every January to see how many people are sheltered or unsheltered.
In this year's count, 1,790 St. Louis city residents were identified, which is an almost 9% increase from 2025, according to Jonathan Belcher, director of Peter & Paul's Community Services Continuum of Care program. And 323 individuals were unsheltered while the others were found in shelters across the city.
Belcher said the increase is driven by the lack of affordable housing and the growing cost of basic necessities like food and gas.
"These factors create a perfect storm, one that drives more households into housing instability and ultimately homelessness," Belcher said. "Addressing this crisis requires urgent, sustained investment and a renewed commitment to ensuring that all members of our community have access to safe, stable and affordable housing."
Despite the growing trend, the group applauded the city's Code Blue program and claimed it saved lives this past winter.
The program opened up an additional 340 shelter beds when temperatures dipped below 25 degrees. The city also stationed warming buses across St. Louis for those who couldn't make it to a shelter.
St. Louis Ward 7 Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier introduced a board bill last year that opened up over $3 million in Rams settlement funds to pay for the city's program. She said she'd like to see it codified into law.
"Code Blue should be legislation. It should be a board bill. It should have a permanent funding source," Sonnier said.
Pearson, of the Department of Human Services, said the city has awarded $2 million in funding for this upcoming winter for the Code Blue program.
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