It was confirmed on Friday that a $5 million “rapid transitional housing” project in Atlanta is on pace to accept 40 residents from the city’s homeless population beginning in January as city officials consider cracking down on homeless encampments.
The report came after Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens (D) toured the project, known as The Village, which WSB-TV reported “could house up to 40 people in individual units with private baths, social services,” and a “dog park” in “donated converted shipping containers and modular units.”
An earlier video report from 11 Alive explained that about 500 of the “micro-units” are being constructed in total using the city funding, with the first originally expected to open in December. The downtown site of the buildings was criticized for being “a food desert with a high concentration of night clubs,” Urbanize Atlanta reported in August, but city officials said the location will also include “wraparound services” for residents.
Dickens referred to the homes as “rapid transitional housing,” and told the outlet that city leaders will have to consider whether to “allow or disallow anybody to ever go up under a bridge to live and so consider that trespassing,” but added that the city must “have options for people” before it could ban such a practice.
The mayor (pictured above) added, “We don’t want any more fires under a bridge,” or for homeless Atlantans “to have to endure the elements or have to light a fire to stay warm under a bridge,” according to WSB-TV.
His remarks followed the Thursday fire under a Cheshire Bridge Road overpass, which an Atlanta Mission official said was a “wake up call” about the dangers of homeless encampments near bridges, homes, and businesses.
There are about 2,000 homeless people in Atlanta who sleep on the streets each night, according to the Atlanta Mission, which acknowledges on its website that homeless “seek shelter under bridges and inside abandoned buildings.”
Atlanta’s plan to build “rapid transitional housing” differs significantly from a similar policy used in California and other West Coast states, which sees abandoned parking lots converted into “safe sleeping sites” with “wraparound services” for the homeless, in that Atlanta is building permanent structures for homeless rather than allowing them to construct encampments.
The construction comes as the United States experiences a surge in homeless, according to federal figures published last week. Data shows the number of homeless people increased by 12 percent, or about 70,650 people, as federal pandemic spending expired.
There are currently believed to be 653,000 homeless people throughout the country, with more than half experiencing homelessness in California, Oregon, Hawaii, Arizona and Nevada.
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mayor Andre Dickens” by Mayor Andre Dickens.
