BOISE, Idaho — Homelessness is on the rise in the Treasure Valley, and it has been since the pandemic, said Stephanie Day, the executive director of the Charitable Assistance to the Community’s Homeless or CATCH, a local housing-first nonprofit.
Day said that as of December 2024, there were about 300 families on the Ada County waitlist—more than ever.
“We’re trying to keep up with the growth as much as we can,” Day said.
However, even with the surge, CATCH has been able to house more people in 2024 than they ever have.
“While we have seen a pretty significant growth in the number of families experiencing homelessness, we’ve also been able to scale up our resources to be able to serve more families,” Day said.
In 2024, CATCH has ended homelessness for 105 families, 209 children and 451 people altogether.
“Our mission is just to make sure housing and home is a reality for every single person in the Treasure Valley,” Day said.
That dream did become a reality for Skyler Aughenbaugh, who found CATCH when she was experiencing homelessness.
“It felt like an emergency, and we needed something right now,” Aughenbaugh said.
She was evicted from her home when she was 19, and then struggled to find a home for her and her son Jax.
“We were sleeping on friends’ couches and sleeping in vehicles and just doing what we could to try to keep our jobs,” Aughenbaugh said.
She eventually reached out to CATCH, got on the waiting list and was able to meet with a case manager – who guided her through getting a home and advocating for herself. She was also able to get a job at a daycare.
“I knew that I could be a contributing member of society and give my son a life worth living, and it just felt like I had this thing in my way that I couldn’t move on my own,” Aughenbaugh said.
She attributes that to CATCH – who walked with her every step of the way. Day said they have seen the biggest issue is a lack of affordable housing – and housing rates increasing while income rates are staying the same.
“When we look at solutions to ending homelessness, the most important thing we can focus on is making sure that there is affordable housing for every person in the Valley,” Day said.
CATCH is currently in their “Avenues for Hope” campaign and are hoping to end homelessness for 22 more families before the end of the year. People can use this link to donate to the campaign, or to CATCH as a whole.