The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that a chronically homeless person can cost the public between $30,000 and $50,000 annually in health care, incarceration and other costs. There are an estimated 200 or more homeless individuals in and around Gainesville at any given time, according to local officials and nonprofit agencies. And according to the state Department of Community Affairs, Hall is just one of 10 counties in the state to experience a more than 50 percent increase in the number of unsheltered homeless people between 2013 and 2015.