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Our blog shares insights, resources, and updates on homelessness, affordable housing, and community initiatives. Topics you’ll find here: • Tips for independent living on a fixed income • Affordable housing challenges in Florida • Stories of resilience from our residents • Updates on our housing availability and new locations • Community resources for food, healthcare, and job assistance We aim to educate, inspire, and connect — because housing is just the first step toward rebuilding lives.
https://www.ocalagazette.com/ocala-marion-county-pit-count-numbers-released/
Preliminary data from the 2025 US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s required annual census of homeless people in Marion County, which is taken on one day and is known as the PIT, or Point in Time count, has been released by the city of Ocala.
According to an email released by James Haynes, director of the city’s Community Development Services, Jan. 25, 2025, count teams documented encounters with 231 people in different types of shelters and 160 people living unsheltered, for a preliminary total number of homeless persons at 391.
“We feel that the number of sheltered and unsheltered is reflective of the homeless persons and families in Marion County at that point in time,” Haynes noted in the email in part.
The PIT count was overseen by the Ocala/Marion County Joint Office on Homelessness Prevention.
According to charts available at the Florida Department of Heath website, flhealthcharts.gov, the homeless estimate total for Marion County for 2024 was 378.