Aiken survey shows large jump in community’s homeless numbers

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - For the first time in years, we’re getting a better idea of what Aiken’s homeless population looks like.

Usually, the “point-in-time” count happens every other year, but after 2019, the count was put on the back burner because of the pandemic.

This year, volunteers took to the streets of Aiken to hold the count for the first time in four years.

It’s a full-circle moment for volunteers like Kurt Johnson who faced homelessness himself.

“I can go out there and hand out food. I can hand out socks, I can hand out gloves, jackets. That’s not all they want. They want somebody to listen to them,” he said.

From a count of 21 homeless people in Aiken in 2019 to at least 150 in 2024, the number of people facing homelessness in Aiken has increased by more than 600%.

Through donations and conversations with those struggling, leaders say they know the work isn’t done just because the count is over.

Director of Aiken County Homeless Coalition, Mary Anton, said: “We got a lot talking to them and we got a lot about what we have to do next.”

They say the first step is to form a county or citywide homeless coalition.

Project Manager of Aiken County Homeless Coalition, Dan Anton, said: “Those of us in the Aiken County Homeless Coalition sitting there raising our hands and saying, hey, you know, we have this problem, but if that’s not being actually listened to, then we’re not getting anything done.”

With the resources of local government and nonprofits combined, their hope is to give people the help they need.

Captain April Tiller with the Salvation Army of Aiken said: “To really address the needs of our community we need community leaders and to forces and to say, ‘You know what? We really do need to combat that.’”

Exact numbers from the “point-in-time” count will be crunched and verified by Housing and Urban Development. The next count in Aiken will take place in 2026.

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