Count: Number of people sleeping rough in Adelaide soars to 227, up from 143 at same time last year

There has been a huge rise in the number of people sleeping rough in Adelaide, according to new findings.

• Connections week to count people sleeping rough in Adelaide

The number of people sleeping rough in Adelaide has soared to 227, up from 143 at the same time last year.

And about 70 per cent of them are living with physical or mental health problems or substance abuse issues.

The findings emerged from the second annual Connections Week, an initiative of the Adelaide Zero Project.

About 280 volunteers travelled the CBD and parklands over three nights this week speaking with people sleeping rough to update a list created during the first Connections Week last May.

Since then, 161 people have been helped to find housing, but new people have also fallen into homelessness.

The list, naming every person sleeping rough, is continually updated.

The Adelaide Zero Project was launched in 2017 and is being led by the Don Dunstan Foundation. executive director David Pearson said the level of health concern among Adelaide homeless showed “rough sleeping is a health issue as much as a housing issue”.