North Dakota’s New Homelessness Council Adds Coordination to The Mix

(Adobe Stock via Prairie News Service)

(By Mike Moen. Prairie News Service) – It is National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week and North Dakota state agencies and service providers are forging a new path in response to concerning numbers of people who are unhoused.

Gov. Kelly Armstrong has signed an executive order creating the North Dakota Interagency Council on Homelessness. When measuring how many people are without a home on a single night, North Dakota saw a nearly 10% increase between 2023 and 2024, with the numbers still elevated this year.

Chandler Esslinger, executive director of the Fargo-Moorhead Coalition to End Homelessness and board chair of the North Dakota Coalition for Homeless People, is on the new council. She sees it as blocking a full-blown crisis from happening.

“We are not past the point of no return, in terms of making systematic reductions in homelessness over time in North Dakota,” Esslinger contended. “This interagency council really couldn’t be coming at a better time. It’s something we’ve been advocating for.”