Atlanta’s efforts to combat homelessness show promising results

Chronic homelessness has dropped nine percent thanks in part to the City of Atlanta and local agencies dedication to rehoming people a new account states Partners for HOME Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone uncovered that pandemic-related homelessness is stabilizing We are at a critical inflection point on the cusp of decreasing homelessness in Atlanta the Point In Time Count overview states The Point In Time Count is a census of unhoused people that occurs in late January as federally mandated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Growth It is an approximate number used to gauge changes over time In Atlanta the count is done annually In January more than people were experiencing homelessness in the City of Atlanta In January the numbers are down to people In Atlanta nearly nonprofit cabinet and public agencies work together to end homelessness led by Partners for HOME These agencies created a strategic goal in to Reduce and End Homelessness by closing encampments and providing housing and services to their residents thereby increasing access to housing for all people experiencing homelessness especially for the the greater part vulnerable The chronically homeless population is the the greater part vulnerable and highly prioritized by Partners for HOME These are individuals with a longterm disabling condition ranging from severe mental illness addiction chronic biological conditions or a combination thereof and have long spans of homelessness We need the right types of housing at the right affordability with the right complement of supportive services to ensure vulnerable folks have access to housing and can stabilize in housing and not return to homelessness commented Partners for HOME CEO Cathryn Vassell Total number of homeless people in Atlanta from to Courtesy of the Point In Time Count analysis Homelessness factors include the affordability of rent and the availability of affordable housing but other factors include mental physical condition chronic therapeutic conditions addiction and system impoverishment a person s help system Since households have been housed through homelessness response initiatives alone There s a lot of movement in and out of the homeless system on any given day About half of the number of people who were surveyed this year were not in our figures system yet so they had not yet accessed information or services Vassell stated People come in and out of homelessness all the time Drilling down into the demographics percent of homeless people who have been counted in Atlanta are living without children percent identify as male percent identify as female and about percent identify as trans non-binary or multiple genders percent makes up households with adults and minor children which totals about families in Black people are disproportionately represented While percent of the city s population is Black percent of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness are Black Youth and veteran homelessness declined percent and percent respectively Homeless families with children have seen an increase of percent or people We have continued to focus our efforts on rehousing and getting folks out of homelessness as speedily as accomplishable and Mayor Andre Dickens administration is certainly squarely focused on that as well as on increasing the availability of affordable housing across our locality Vassell mentioned Dickens has committed to building quick-delivery housing units with wraparound services by the end of The Melody Atlanta s first rapid housing group is a area of micro-units made from shipping containers In December Bonaventure opened with furnished apartments in Virginia Highland Another units are in improvement or under contract as we speak so we will deliver over new units of supportive housing between now and the end of the end of this year which is the bulk supportive housing we ve ever been able to deliver in in such a short period of time Vassell stated The post Atlanta s efforts to combat homelessness show promising results appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta