Atlanta, a city that has seen its share of growth and development, now encounters a persistent challenge with homelessness, specifically a marked 14% increase in family homelessness, a report from the nonprofit Partners for Home indicates.
Though there’s a glimmer of optimism with an overall 1% rise in homelessness—which suggests a possible stabilizing trend—the numbers released yesterday underline the persistent adversities faced by families in the city; the number of veterans and youths experiencing homelessness both fell by 6% and 3% respectively, yet the struggle for families continues to intensify, with such numbers jumping from 115 last year to 131 this year despite the group’s championing of initiatives like permanent supportive housing that have led to a 9% decrease in chronic homelessness, according to the data acquired from the annual Point-in-Time Count conducted on January 27, and detailed by FOX5 Atlanta.
The report also finds a disproportionate representation of Black individuals within the homeless population, with 80% of those surveyed identifying as such, which, while slightly decreased from the previous year’s 86%, remains significantly higher than the general demographics of Atlanta’s population, as reported by FOX5 Atlanta. Furthermore, the largest age group experiencing homelessness was those aged 55 to 64, highlighting seniors as a rapidly growing segment facing unsheltered living conditions…