Salt Creek Homeless Big Part Of Count

Over 10 percent of those counted in a point-in-time homeless count last week come from the Salt Creek and Edgerton area. Referring to the Count as "Casper's" was a reporting error. The count numbers actually come from across Natrona County.

Mike Smith runs the Midwest Community Health Clinic and he participated in the count. He says the numbers reflect a big change for what were once oil boom-towns.

"The reality is that the Midwest and Edgerton area, or what we call Salt Creek is, by the time you figure in homeless, working poor and non-working poor, you've just covered a huge percentage, we're talking 75 percent of the population up there."

Smith says the point-in-time  numbers indicate the Salt creek area has about 7 percent of its people living homeless, that compares to Casper's 1 percent. The high paying jobs in the area that produce much of Natrona County's revenue, he says, go to folks who mostly commute to and from Casper.

"There was a time when, ya know, we had the best schools, we had the best, the finest of everything up there and not so much anymore. We're changing that. We're trying to anyway."

Smith says the community is working to lift itself up. He says the Midwest Community Health Clinic is one part of that effort.