Summit County’s homeless providers say they are in uncharted territory. A new report shows that 71% of people who experienced homelessness in 2025 were unhoused for the first time, a wave of newcomers that is stretching shelters, outreach centers, and re-housing programs past their limits. Outreach workers and leaders with lived experience say they are seeing new faces every day at drop-in centers for showers and laundry, while agency directors warn that limited permanent housing is the choke point. The Continuum of Care’s data shows demand outpacing available resources across emergency, transitional, and rapid re-housing programs.
What the report found
According to a report by the Summit County Continuum of Care, local Homeless Management Information System data show 4,544 people received assistance in 2025, and 71% of those individuals were "newly homeless," which the report defines as not having used emergency shelter, transitional housing, or permanent housing supports in the prior 24 months. The document also lists roughly 1,494 housing opportunities across emergency shelter, transitional housing, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing, but warns that those resources are not keeping pace with demand. The report separately tallies 909 people who found safety through domestic-violence programs in 2025, underscoring the need for survivor-centered housing pathways.
Providers say shelters are being stretched
Summit County Continuum of Care Executive Director Christopher Richardson told News 5 Cleveland that rising rents are a key driver of the surge. "As long as the prices of rent increase, you’re going to continue to see these challenges happen," he said.
Matthew Seifert, the Continuum’s lived-experience co-chair, told the station that outreach centers are seeing "five to six new people coming into the outreach center to do laundry and shower every day." Tarry House Executive Director Tim Edgar warned that without more permanent housing options, people who stabilize in transitional programs often have "nowhere to send them to," creating a recurring cycle that keeps beds full and exits slow.
Policy pressure and housing gaps
County officials and the Continuum point to a tight rental market combined with policy shifts that could deepen instability for low-income households. Summit County leaders told Ideastream Public Media that work-requirement and eligibility changes to SNAP and Medicaid enacted in 2025 may make it harder for some households to keep basic supports.
The Continuum’s report also issues a "call to action" urging local investment to expand permanent housing and preserve existing beds, according to the document by the Summit County Continuum of Care.
What comes next
The Continuum and local shelters want elected leaders and philanthropies to prioritize funding for permanent units, rapid re-housing and expanded coordinated entry so first-time homelessness can be stopped from becoming chronic. Providers say that without investments to increase affordable supply and shorten exits to stable housing, the county will keep cycling people through emergency and transitional programs.
For now, agencies are asking residents and officials to treat the report as a roadmap for targeted investments that could limit future spikes in homelessness and ease the pressure on a system already stretched thin.
