The most recent count of homeless individuals in Athens, conducted on Jan. 29, found 543 people living outdoors, in shelters or in various types of supportive or transitional housing, down from 585 last year. And officials hope that a new “coordinated entry” tool can help them bring that number down further.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development mandates that communities conduct a one-day point-in-time census of the homeless population each year. As it did in many cities, homelessness exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, rising from 280 in January of 2020 to 703 in 2023 before starting to decline. Those numbers are likely undercounts, as some people can be hard to find.
One challenge to finding housing for those individuals is that, historically, information-sharing among service providers has been inadequate, forcing those seeking help to tell their story over and over again to each agency they contact. The coordinated entry tool will allow all those service providers to access information about a client whenever they’re entered into the system. It also broadens the number of entry points by including entities like hospitals, libraries and law enforcement.
“We tried to make it a more streamlined, equitable and efficient way to connect clients to services,” said Claire Cates, community data coordinator for the Athens Homeless Coalition, an umbrella group of local nonprofits funded by the Athens-Clarke County government. “I think any coordinated effort strengthens a community [and] will lead to people experiencing homelessness less.”
With available housing limited, the system also allows service providers to prioritize clients who are most in need, for example the elderly or those who are in poor health, rather than provide housing on a first-come, first-served basis. “The inventory is what it is,” Cates said. “There’s still a lack of housing.”
Case managers can also decide what type of housing is best. For example, rapid rehousing lasts six months and allows people who are down on their luck to get back on their feet. On the other end, permanent supportive housing is for those who are chronically homeless due to mental illness or disability.
The most recent point-in-time (PIT) count found that 43% of the 289 homeless individuals surveyed had some sort of disabling condition. More than half suffered from mental illness, and 71% had a substance abuse disorder.
A third of those surveyed were from Athens, and 65% had lived in Athens for at least six years. Of those who came from outside Athens, most said they were drawn by friends and family or by better resources.
Another key finding was the racial disparity: African Americans make up 26% of the Athens population, but 55% of the local homeless population is Black. About 61% are men. The survey included 14 military veterans and 48 people, mostly women, fleeing domestic violence. The PIT count also found an increase in the number of unsheltered people versus sheltered, which Cates attributed to the Salvation Army shelter being temporarily closed for renovations at the time.
Firefly Trail Gets Grant
Oglethorpe County recently received a $2.3 million federal grant to complete a 13-mile stretch of the Firefly Trail between Maxeys and Union Point.
The Georgia Department of Transportation provided the required 20% local match for the grant from the Federal Highway Administration’s Transportation Alternatives Program, nonprofit Firefly Trail Inc. announced earlier this month. It will fund 4.5 miles to the Greene County line, meeting up with a 6.8-mile stretch to Union Point that Greene County has already completed.
Separately, the city of Maxeys, which built a “model mile” of the trail in 2021, received a Georgia Department of Natural Resources grant to add a second mile within the city limits. Meanwhile, Athens-Clarke County’s SPLOST and TSPLOST-funded portion between downtown and Winterville is scheduled to be completed around the end of the year.
“The Maxeys model mile gets heavy use throughout the year, even more than we anticipated, and the same is true of the completed trail in Greene County,” said Maxeys resident John
Stephens, a member of the nonprofit Firefly Trail Inc.’s board of directors. “This project is clearly meeting a need felt all along the 39-mile trail corridor. And it will be fabulous to see the gap between the South Oglethorpe and Greene County segments close.”
The Firefly Trail project was launched after the ACC government stepped in to stop the destruction of the iconic “Murmur Trestle” in 1998. Officials decided to make use of the railway abandoned by CSX transportation by converting it into a walking and biking trail.
Pride Group Names Director
The Athens Pride & Queer Collective recently named its first-ever executive director, Elliot Williamson, a move the organization described as a major milestone in its growth.
Williamson graduated with honors from the University of Georgia, where he studied Spanish, economics and international business, and previously worked at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. APQC President Becky Loccisano cited his experience in managing projects, community-building, social engagement and event organizing, in addition to his bilingual skills.
“Growing up in Athens, I was fortunate to come of age in an environment free from shame or prejudice,” Williamson said. “That experience instilled in me a profound commitment to advocacy, education and celebration—principles that will drive my work at APQC.”
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