Jamestown officials have taken a necessary first step in simply recognizing there seems to be an increase in the number of homeless in Jamestown.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist told City Council members the city’s leadership team recently held a meeting to address the issue of homelessness in the city and consider ways to partner with different agencies to help people who are in need of shelter. The mayor is also going to convene a special meeting with the Chautauqua County Homelessness Coalition to focus on the city’s homeless population.

“It is something that we need to work together to take care of,” he said. “All of our departments are on alert of this.”

The next step will be the difficult one.

Part of the difficulty is not knowing how many homeless there actually are or how much the homeless population has increased in Jamestown. But we know mental health issues play a role in homelessness. And it’s very likely the increase in Jamestown’s homeless population is the result of the scorching hot housing market the city and country have seen over the past couple of years. A city once known for a prevalence of cheap housing finds itself now with a dearth of low-cost housing options.

It’s a complex problem that doesn’t have an easy solution. It takes time and money to build shelters — and time is something the city doesn’t have. It doesn’t seem like it with the hot temperatures we have seen, but winter is coming quickly. So yes, we need to have conversations and meetings, but we also have to act.