More homeless in Brown County this winter

GREEN BAY (AP) - A new report shows the number of people living in shelters or on the street this winter in Brown County increased over last winter.

The Brown County Homeless & Housing Coalition reported finding 481 homeless people Jan. 30 during a countywide canvass, which is 10 percent more than last winter.

Meika Burnikel, a member of the homeless coalition, tells the Green Bay Press-Gazette she suspects some people went uncounted because the count took place during a snowstorm. Some likely were riding out the storm inside 24-hour grocery stores and other places where could go undetected.

The canvass found that all five of Green Bay's emergency shelters were at or near capacity, with a combined 470 people. That is up from 425 counted in the shelters last winter.