KINGSTON – More and more middle and upper class households are facing potential homelessness in Ulster County and that has become a major worry to the Rural Ulster Preservation Company in recent weeks.

Homeless numbers are on the rise in the county, said RUPCO Executive Director Kevin O’Connor. Figures from December show 217 individuals and 114 families as shelter homeless, with 65 of those individuals and 54 of those families listed as newly homeless, he said. Unsheltered homeless were estimated at 122 individuals and seven families in December.

Two collaborative efforts serving Ulster County provide assistance to those who need it. Hudson Valley Foreclosure Prevention Services is a collaborative effort involving RUPCO, Hudson River Housing and Legal Services of the Hudson Valley.

The foreclosure counselors are saying that recent callers are in the higher income brackets and more expensive homes than those in the first wave of counseling. “Job loss and loss of income is the chief driving factor,” said O’Connor.

RUPCO and Family of Woodstock have a second program, running the Homeless Prevention Rapid Re-housing Program to assist those at imminent risk of becoming or already homeless.

Early intervention is suggested when financial troubles hit a household. “If we can intervene early in the foreclosure process, for example, there are more options available,” said O’Connor. “If people wait until the day their house is going to be taken, there’s a lot less we can do to help.”