Homelessness among seniors on Long Island jumps sharply, new data shows

Dangerously cold temperatures gripped Long Island Tuesday and snow remnants kept many nestled in their warm homes. But in Babylon, two older men found a shelter of sorts inside a corner store near an LIRR train station.

In the store’s aisle, three outreach workers from the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless inquired about their housing status and whether they needed any assistance.

"We’re doing something called a homeless count," one of the workers told the men. "So, we have people across Long Island who are out talking to people, making sure that they know about shelter options, resources, but we also have supplies."

One of the men later responded, saying, "When you get these guys off the street, where do you put them up at?"

At train stations, libraries, churches and elsewhere, volunteers and workers braved frigid temperatures to have conversations like these as part of the federal government’s count of the Long Island homeless population, which last year was at its highest total since at least 2007.

On Tuesday, the worker told him where people sleep is up to them, but he explained there were options. After a few minutes of chatting about homelessness in the area, the outreach team departed, leaving behind two large coats, hand warmers and dental hygiene kits. The staff believe the men were likely homeless, though they weren’t ready to say so.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless and other organizations across the country to count their unhoused population on one day in January, in part to help dole out resources to eradicate homelessness, experts say.

A spike in homeless Long Islanders

On Long Island, homelessness is on the rise. Last year, 4,540 people experienced homelessness on Long Island, marking the highest number counted since at least 2007, when the figure was 1,728, according to the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless.

The uptick in unhoused people can be attributed to several factors, from the lack of affordable housing to economic hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. But many say a significant driver is the increase in homeless seniors, many of whom have never been homeless before, experts say.

They are people who can no longer work to earn income or they may have lost a spouse who handled financial matters — all this in the face of steep medical costs, higher rents and a lack of affordable housing.

From 2024 to 2025, the number of verified homeless seniors on Long Island grew from 198 to 253, marking a 27.8% increase. The homelessness growth across the general population at that time was 12.4%, according to data compiled by the coalition. 

"If we don't figure out how to ensure an adequate supply and affordable housing and access to address health care needs, really for all Americans, then we won't be able to stem that older adult crisis that we're seeing, because everybody gets older," said Marcy Thompson, vice president of programs and policy at the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

In 2024, nearly 150 of the area’s counted homeless lived in emergency shelters, 19 lived in transitional housing and 26 of them either lived in vehicles, train stations or other places on the streets, according to data from the coalition.

Suffolk and Nassau counties didn’t respond to a request for comment on the rise in homelessness on Long Island.

Last year, the coalition helped nonprofits obtain roughly $17 million in federal funding to help deliver permanent supportive housing to people experiencing chronic homelessness.

No place for seniors 

Mike Giuffrida, associate director of the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless, said Long Island's aging population combined with the high cost of living can sometimes leave a senior citizen homeless. In the decade since 2013, the number of seniors experiencing poverty grew by more than 60%, Newsday reported, citing a Center for an Urban Future study that analyzed census data. In 2023, more than 32,000 members of those 65 and above lived in poverty on Long Island.

"We're seeing working class people and working class families that don't have enough money to make it here and are falling behind ... and we're seeing seniors who have lived on Long Island their entire life and have never been homeless before, now experiencing homelessness for the first time," Giuffrida said.

Many homeless seniors in the area end up in the shelter system on Long Island. In Suffolk County, they could end up in a congregate shelter in which a group of people live in a household, despite their age.

In Nassau, seniors who deal with homelessness may get placement in a hotel or motel. The challenge, experts say, is that there is often no place for them to go after that because they often have health conditions that compromise their mobility and make it difficult to earn income.

It could be typical to have someone in their 70s wait "for four or five years until they pass away because there is nowhere for them to go from there," Giuffrida said. "You know, they can’t afford assisted living, nursing home, there is no family that can take them in and they're not, maybe, able to afford any rental unit."

Moreover, many seniors on Long Island, Giuffrida said, don’t feel comfortable living in a shelter because they can’t defend themselves or don't want to liquidate their assets so they can meet lower shelter financial requirements.

Search for the homeless

Experts warn the number of homeless reflected in recent years are undercounts because those figures do not include people living with relatives or doing so-called couch surfing in various homes. Moreover, finding homeless people can often take a lot of detective work, especially in dangerously cold temperatures when they are not out in the open.

In New York City, 10 people who died in the snowstorm this week were found outside as temperatures plummeted, officials said.

On Tuesday, temperatures were in the 20s in parts of Long Island, according to the National Weather Service, going down to the teens and even single digits in some places. The usual places where homeless people would congregate, libraries or several train stations, were empty, but their presence was seen in a blanket left behind or a construction worker recalling they typically congregate around the waiting area of the station.

A church official questioned by the outreach team rattled off the names of unhoused people who frequented a place of worship, a few of whom have received placement in a nursing home. A worker at a bank talked about an unhoused man who sat outside the financial institution in a lawn chair but didn’t want to be placed in a shelter when asked if he wanted assistance. 

During the count Tuesday, Giuffrida and two other outreach workers tried different tactics in their search. One worker said they would double back to places a homeless person might have frequented to try and connect with them. The group also gave out cards to church staff and others, letting them know to reach out if they encounter anyone who is living is needed.

"We have to continue finding people," he said, "before it’s too late."