A woman wiped a tear from her eye and said she was never aware that people are living under bridges in the local community. She paused before she said, “Until I had to live under one.”

The woman’s story was featured in a video shown at the Ames Forum on Awareness and Action Thursday night as part of National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week.

According to the 2009 Iowans Experiencing Homelessness report, there were 23,808 homeless people in Iowa in the last year, with more than 15,000 more people at risk.

“It’s not about what choices they made or how they got here,” said Vanessa Baker-Latimer, housing coordinator for the city of Ames. “They are in our community and they need our help.”

David Eberbach, of the Iowa Institute for Community Alliance, presented the 2009 Homelessness Report that displayed statistics of demographics, employment trends and causes of homelessness in Story County.

“There has been a noticeable trend that the recession has hit the homeless working,” Eberbach said. He said the number of employed homeless people has increased in Story County since 2008.

In addition, Eberbach said the number of people who cite economics as their primary cause of homelessness has gone up.

Following the report presentation, information was shared from local service providers including Mid-Iowa Community Action Agency, Assault Care Center Extending Shelter & Support, Bethesda Lutheran Church, Good Neighbor, Emergency Residence Project, Youth and Shelter Services and Food At First.

Each organization representative gave an overview about the different programs and assistance they offer and talked about the recent trends they have observed in the community through their respective services.

“We as a community has eliminated the need for people to be hungry,” said Scott Walker, coordinator of Food At First, which serves meals at First United Methodist Church. “What we’re not doing is reaching those people who need us.”

Walker said that while the city of Ames has the sources available for these services, many people are too embarrassed to ask for help.

Carrie Dunnwald, of the Youth and Shelter Services, which provides counseling, prevention services, foster care and adoption, said a big issue is the lack of affordable housing in Ames.

“When participants leave our program, there are not many affordable housing options,” Dunnwald said. As a result, people have no other options outside of the shelter.

Another problem, according to Dunnwald, is that while there is an increase in volunteers and donations this time of year, the numbers decrease after the holidays.

Baker-Latimer addressed this issue to the audience, saying every year the goal is to take National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week and stretch the week into an entire year.

“[Homelessness] is a vital part of this community that we need to keep in the forefront,” Baker-Latimer said.