The number of homeless people in Jackson County is growing, especially among two-parent families with children, preliminary results of a January count of homeless people show.

"The face of homelessness has changed so dramatically in just the past year because of the economy," Ed Angeletti, a spokesman for the social service organization ACCESS.

In a one-day January count, the organization found 1,034 people living without housing, 15 percent more than the 899 people it found in a count a year earlier, ACCESS reported.

Three hundred, or 29 percent, were identified in this year's survey as part of a two-parent family with children, up from 2.9 percent in last year's poll.

The number of homeless single parents with children increased from 9 percent to 26 percent over the same period, Angeletti added.

The nonprofit organization tallied the surveys filled out by homeless people in two dozen shelters and emergency food pantries. ACCESS also sent 40 volunteers out into the community looking for homeless people.

"We had volunteers checking for individuals all the way from Shady Cove to Ashland," said Angeletti.

— Sanne Specht