Homeless service organizations in Georgia are unsure about what funding they will have to work with in the coming year because of changes in mission at the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development — changes currently being challenged in federal court.
The family of Cornelius Taylor, a homeless man killed last winter when a bulldozer crushed his tent during an encampment sweep, has sued Atlanta, accusing city employees of failing to check tents for occupants before clearing the area.
Macon-Bibb County is the only municipality in Middle Georgia where homeless camping and sleeping in public is banned. But the ordinances actually have allowed for more outreach and support than arrests.
On the Thursday January 23rd edition of Georgia Today: An unhoused man died last week when city workers used construction equipment to clear the camp where he was living; the Laken Riley Act is on its way to becoming law; And CNN expects to lay off about two-hundred people.
Fulton’s annual Point In Time Count of all the unhoused people in the county has been postponed this year due to cold weather. It was scheduled to begin Wednesday.
Atlanta transit officials and first responders joined the mayor with updates on addressing crime and providing shelter to residents during cold nights.
The new development on Macon’s east side, called the Tiny Cottages, are exclusively available to people who meet the federal definition of homelessness.
A group of nonprofits are working to help 1,000 families in the Atlanta metro area go from living in motels to stable, permanent housing by June of 2025.
Mayor Andre Dickens pledged to clear the encampments after numerous fires believed to have been set by unhoused people have damaged bridges and closed roadways in the city.
The former athletic club at Wellstar’s Atlanta Medical Center will become a temporary emergency shelter for unhoused residents, according to a report by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
“We don't want to make the mistake of saying, oh, homelessness is causing the deaths when it's this underlying opioid use disorder," said researcher from the University of Georgia David Bradford.
