A recent report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), shows that the number of people in homeless shelters has gone down in the U.S. and New York.

According to the findings, there has been an 8% decrease in the number of sheltered homeless across the nation and a 12% decrease in N.Y. from 2020 to 2021.

However, those findings don’t reflect the numbers in Chemung County and the Communications Coordinator for Catholic Charities of Chemung and Schuyler, Katie Rhodes, said the pandemic has impacted their shelters.

“That might be so when you’re taking the average, but here in Chemung County, that is not the case for us right now,” said Rhodes. “Our numbers have increased from 20-20 to 20-21, and we’re at an all-time high right now in 20-22,” she added.

Rhodes also said the number of nights people are staying at the shelters has risen from 19 to 27 nights since the start of the pandemic, and don’t be afraid to ask for help or think you don’t deserve it should you find yourself in need.