The number of people using Baltimore’s emergency shelter system for overnight stays has doubled in the last two years, the latest city data shows, and Baltimore’s homeless services director is pointing the blame at two main culprits: A loss of funding designed to prevent evictions and the soaring costs of renting and owning a home.

More people in Baltimore experienced homelessness for the first time in 2024 compared to the year before, the data shows. And Baltimore is roughly half as successful at placing people in housing as the national average.

The trend mirrors what’s happening across the country with emergency shelter visits also doubling during the same period, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which surveys homelessness on a single night every January.

Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services director Ernestina Simmons presented the stark figures to members of the Baltimore City Council this week. She attributed the “drastic increase” in overnight emergency shelter stays to the national housing crisis that has pushed the cost of living to new heights.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness lists the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment at $1,575 — slightly below the city’s estimate of $1,604.

“The cost of housing is beyond what most can afford at this point in time,” Simmons said. “You’re seeing people that need shelter that have never had to ask for help a day in their life.”

That includes more children, Simmons said, who are experiencing housing insecurity along with their parents. With most eviction prevention money dried up and a dearth of social service funding available to support households in need, Simmons said the city has looked to improve and increase its shelter offerings.

“We want to create more housing,” Simmons said, “but there’s nothing worse than vacant units that people can’t afford.”

An increased dependency on homeless services comes as the city agency seeks to rebuild after a tumultuous few years. Critical missteps in the office in 2023 led to employees being locked out of federal reimbursement systems and unable to access housing funds — in one instance because they violated federal security rules and in another due to staff turnover in the office.

City employees in the homelessness office also came under fire after failing to pay partner nonprofit organizations on time, leading to missed rental payments and evictions for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.

Simmons took over the beleaguered agency in late 2023 after its last director, Irene Agustin, resigned in the wake of the scandals. Simmons previously worked for AIDS Interfaith Residential Services, a city nonprofit that suddenly, after her tenure, stopped paying the rent and utility bills for dozens of low-income and medically vulnerable households.

Baltimore City Councilman James Torrence, who said he once experienced homelessness and chairs the council’s housing committee, said he planned for quarterly oversight hearings of the agency. Torrence said he wanted more information next time about the city’s strategies and policies for dealing with encampments, many of which have been disbanded at the city and state’s direction over the last year.

Danielle Meister, the assistant secretary at the state housing department’s homelessness division, told council members that the city and state were in lockstep unlike ever before. The state is expected to review a tax credit application for the Sojourner Place at the Falls, the planned conversion of two city-purchased hotels into housing and medical respite space.

Last fall, the city awarded the hotel’s development and operating rights to the Episcopal Housing Corp., Beacon Communities and Health Care for the Homeless. The three entities will lead the redevelopment of the site while Health Care for the Homeless will provide support services, which have been shown to keep people out of homelessness and away from emergency departments.

Dan McCarthy, executive director of Episcopal Housing Corp., said on Tuesday that the former Holiday Inn building would likely be renovated while the Sleep Inn would be torn down to make way for new construction. If the state tax credits come through, the roughly 117-unit complex would likely start being built in about a year, McCarthy said.

The state’s next budget includes funding for expanded social services support, Meister said, and a new policy requires affordable housing developers who use state funds to set aside some units for people who have experienced homelessness. But she acknowledged a “systemic” funding problem for social services remained, even though it’s been proven effective.

Kevin Lindamood, Health Care for the Homeless’ president and CEO, said while homelessness and its many challenges persist, he’s heartened that, after more than a generation of debate, the city, state and their partners finally all agree on why it happens and how to solve it.

“The lack of affordable housing drives contemporary homelessness,” he said, “and housing with services can end it.”

Clarification: This article was updated to add Beacon Communities to the groups with rights to develop and operate former hotels as housing for the homeless.