Posted on: December 21, 2018
Today, the first day of winter, is recognized annually as National Homeless Persons Remembrance Day (external link). Sponsored since 1990 by the National Coalition for the Homeless (external link) and the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (external link), this day of recognition is intended to bring attention to the nation’s homeless population and to encourage action for their benefit.
Often overlooked, homelessness is nonetheless a reality for communities across the region and state. Every year since 2007, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has facilitated an annual point-in-time* count of homeless individuals in every state across the country, resulting in the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) (external link) to Congress. According to the data (external link) provided along with the annual report, on a single night in January in 2018, there were a total of 9,499 homeless individuals in Georgia, 5,900 of which were temporarily sheltered and 3,599 who were not. The total number of homeless in the state, according to the count, has been been on a steep decline since a peak of 20,975 in 2011.
The interactive chart below was created using data provided to HUD by Georgia’s Continuum of Care (CoC) Program (external link) participants (covering 97% of the state).
Additional Information:
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I am homeless and need help… (external link)
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HUD’s CoC Anaylis Tool: Race and Ethnicity (external link)
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Zillow Research: Homelessness Rises More Quickly Where Rent Exceeds a Third of Income (external link)
Continuum of Cares (CoCs) in Georgia:
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City of Atlanta (external link)
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Fulton County (outside Atlanta) (external link)
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Athens-Clarke County (external link)
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Augusta-Richmond (external link)
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Columbus-Muscogee/Russel County (external link)
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Marietta/Cobb County (external link)
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Savannah/Chatham County (external link)
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DeKalb County (external link)
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Georgia Balance of State (Rural) (external link)
* The “point-in-time” refers to a single night in January for which an individual’s housing status was assessed. The most recent “point-in-time” was January 23, 2018.
** Chronically homeless individuals are defined by HUD as those “with a disability who has been continuously homeless for one year or more or has experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years where the combined length of time homeless in those occasions is at least 12 months.”
Data source:
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 2018 AHAR: Part 1 – PIT Estimates of Homelessness in the U.S. (external link)
