Record number of homeless people counted in Marion, Polk counties

Higher rents and fewer housing options are forcing more people into homelessness in Salem, nearly half of them for the first time in their lives. 

That’s according to this year’s Point-in-Time count, an annual effort to measure the number and experiences of people who are homeless in Marion and Polk Counties by surveying them out in the community during a week in January.

The count also shows success with Salem’s effort to shelter people.…