Homelessness Rising in Central Missouri: Troubling Trends and Troubling Times : Editorial
- Justin Pope
- 18 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Mid Missouri homeless
As someone who's lived in Central Missouri my entire life, Homelessness Rising in Central Missouri: Troubling Trends and Troubling Times I'm witnessing something I never thought I'd see in our communities. Walking through Columbia, driving past Lake of the Ozarks, or visiting Springfield, the homelessness crisis is right there, impossible to ignore. And frankly, it's getting worse at an alarming rate.
But here's what really keeps me up at night: I can't help but connect what I'm seeing locally to the bigger picture of where our country is headed. Since this president took office, we've never been closer to World War III. And while we're pouring billions into Ukraine and getting dangerously close to direct conflict with Russia, our own people are sleeping in cars and under bridges right here in Missouri.
The Numbers Don't Lie: Central Missouri's Crisis
Let me share what the data actually shows, because it's sobering. In Columbia alone, the January 2024 Point-in-Time survey counted 323 homeless individuals, up from 270 in 2023. But anyone walking downtown knows that number is conservative. The real count is much higher when you factor in people couch-surfing, living in their cars, or staying in places that don't get counted.
Columbia's homelessness rate has consistently run above both Missouri and national averages for years. In fact, by 2022, we were above the national average, that's not something to be proud of for a community our size.
Springfield's situation is even more alarming. The estimated number of unsheltered people hit close to 1,000 as of February 2025. Winter shelters were serving over 200 people nightly, and providers were struggling to keep up with demand. Think about that, nearly a thousand people without stable housing in Springfield alone.
The Lake of the Ozarks region, while harder to pin down exact numbers, reported 173 unsheltered individuals in their regional count. For an area known for luxury vacation homes and resort living, that's a stark contradiction that should make us all uncomfortable.
What's Really Driving This Crisis
The causes are complex, but they're not mysterious. Housing costs have skyrocketed, rents in Columbia are up 29% just since 2024. Meanwhile, wages haven't kept pace. Population growth is putting pressure on already limited affordable housing stock.
But here's what really gets me: 40-60% of unsheltered people nationally actually hold jobs. We're not talking about people who've given up on work, we're talking about working Americans who can't afford housing even with employment. That should terrify every one of us about the direction our economy is heading.
Families are living in their cars. I've seen it myself around Columbia, and it's heartbreaking. These aren't statistics, they're our neighbors, people who grew up here, people who lost jobs or faced medical bills they couldn't handle.
The National Leadership Disaster
Here's where I need to be brutally honest about what I see happening at the national level. This administration has us closer to World War III than we've been since the Cuban Missile Crisis. We've sent over $100 billion to Ukraine, money that could have addressed homelessness, infrastructure, and real American problems, while escalating tensions with a nuclear power.
I genuinely believe Donald Trump is positioning himself to avoid leaving office by manufacturing a crisis that keeps him in power. Nothing unites a country like war, and nothing gives a president more emergency powers than being a "wartime president." The timing is too convenient, and the escalation too aggressive for me to believe it's coincidental.
We're watching our own communities fall apart while our leadership plays geopolitical chess with American lives as the stakes. Putin is unhinged, yes, but our response has been to escalate rather than de-escalate. And meanwhile, Americans are sleeping in their cars in Missouri.
The Connection Between Local Pain and Global Politics
What frustrates me most is how disconnected our national priorities seem from local realities. We can find billions for foreign conflicts, but we can't address the housing crisis in our own backyard. We can mobilize resources for Ukraine in months, but homelessness in Central Missouri keeps getting worse year after year.
The January 2025 Missouri homeless count showed a 27% increase over 2024, with mid-Missouri coordinators expecting even higher numbers. That's not a trend: that's a crisis accelerating while our attention and resources get pulled toward international conflicts.
Think about the resources being poured into military aid when Columbia has families living in cars. Think about the strategic planning going into weapon systems while Springfield can't provide adequate shelter for nearly a thousand people. The disconnect is maddening.
What This Means for Ordinary Americans
If I'm wrong about Trump's motivations, we still have massive problems. If I'm right, we're heading for a domestic and international disaster that will make today's homelessness crisis look small.
Either way, ordinary Americans: especially those of us in places like Central Missouri: are going to bear the consequences. Economic instability from war, potential draft situations, rationing, domestic security concerns: all while we already can't house the people we have.
The families I see struggling with housing costs today will be the families hit hardest by whatever comes next. When you're already living paycheck to paycheck, any additional economic shock pushes you onto the street.
What We Can Do Right Now
First, we need to face reality about both our local crisis and national situation. Columbia, Springfield, and the Lake of the Ozarks region need immediate attention to housing affordability and homeless services. We can't wait for federal solutions that may never come.
Second, we need to demand accountability from our national leadership about priorities. Every dollar sent overseas is a dollar not spent on American housing, American infrastructure, American people. That's not isolationism: that's common sense.
Local businesses, including those of us at Dependable Brokers, need to step up in our communities. We need to support local homeless services, advocate for affordable housing development, and hire locally when possible.
But most importantly, we need to stay aware of how connected these issues really are. Local homelessness and global politics aren't separate problems: they're symptoms of leadership that's lost touch with regular Americans.
The Bottom Line
Central Missouri's homelessness crisis is accelerating, and our national leadership is dragging us toward conflicts that will only make domestic problems worse. Whether it's intentional political maneuvering or just catastrophic priorities, the result is the same: Americans suffering while resources go elsewhere.
I hope I'm wrong about where this is all heading. But the numbers don't lie about homelessness in our communities, and the trajectory of international relations speaks for itself. We need to prepare for both challenges, support our neighbors locally, and demand better from our leadership nationally.
The question is: will we wake up to these connections before it's too late, or will we keep treating symptoms while ignoring the disease? For the sake of those 323 people in Columbia, nearly 1,000 in Springfield, and countless others across our region, we better figure it out fast.
