In 2023, Pittsburgh and Allegheny county news overflowed — and the shelters did, too

Dave Lettrich, executive director of the street outreach group Bridge to the Mountains, comforts Caydee, a woman experiencing homelessness, on Dec. 21 during a Downtown candlelight vigil, organized by Pittsburgh Mercy’s Operation Safety Net, to remember 23 people known to have died while unhoused in Pittsburgh in the past year. The previous year, there were 13. Homelessness is now “at a different level of crisis, and we’re going to have to figure out who we are – maybe before we really figure out what to do,” said Dr. Jim Withers, founder of the Street Medicine Institute. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource) Tents mushroomed, a progressive woman won the top political post, a church converted past injustice into future housing. The year leaves a long to-do list for new leaders and determined activists alike. by Rich Lord& and& Jamie Wiggan, PublicSource During this holiday season,& around 900 people& are known to be sleeping outside or in shelters in Allegheny County. Housing and homelessness were ever-present concerns in the Pittsburgh region this year. But even as tents went up and shelters swung shut, new leadership came knocking on the doors of power with pledges of responsiveness and equity. With COVID-driven funding expiring fast,...