Over 75,000 homeless in Georgia: report

More than 75,000 people are homeless in Georgia at some time during the year, according to a first-ever statewide study of the problem released on Wednesday.

The report estimates that on any one day, 20,000 people are homeless in the state, with more than half living on the street.

The totals are likely much higher because the study uses the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development definition of homeless, which excludes people who are living with family or friends, those living in motels and migrant workers in dilapidated, unfit housing.

State officials say they hope to use the data gathered by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to appeal to lawmakers and private donors for funding for shelters and agencies that help homeless find jobs and places to live. The state's homeless shelters and other agencies don't have enough beds to put a roof over everyone's head, with 7,400 beds for individuals and 5,100 for families.

"This gives us the reality of where we are in this issue," Mike Beatty, commissioner of the state Department of Community Affairs, said during a news conference at Genesis House shelter in Atlanta. "It gives us the basis of where we're headed."

The state plans to conduct the study every year, he said.

The estimates are from surveys and street counts done in 23 counties across the state last year and this year. Kennesaw State University researchers plugged the numbers into a formula designed with U.S. Census data that predicts how many homeless people are in each county.

The numbers are similar to what HUD has estimated for Georgia, Kennesaw State researcher Jennifer Priestley said.

Not all states do such studies, making it difficult to get a national picture or how the Georgia numbers rank. About 750,000 homeless are in the U.S., according to the most recent national estimate from HUD released in 2007.

The study found that the vast majority of the homeless in Georgia are under the age of 54 and hundreds of them are children. According to the Georgia Department of Education, more than 22,000 children in the state's public schools were homeless last school year. That number includes children living on relatives' couches and in motels.

The Georgia study also found that homelessness affects communities of all sizes across the state and not just major metropolitan areas.

"There are homeless people in rural areas of Georgia, it just may look different," said Lindsey Stillman, the lead author on the report. "It's less likely you would see a homeless person on the corner in a rural area than in an urban area. They are living in cars or hidden in the woods."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of homelessness in Georgia.

(With The Associated Press)

Homeless in Columbus: getting past the overpass (Updated)

Homeless under the Second Street Bridge.
Click on images for larger view.
(Dave Bender)
Heeding -- at least temporarily -- the demands of a municipal decision to clear out, several dozen homeless residents camped out beneath Columbus's Second Street Bridge made themselves scarce by noon Monday.

Today was the deadline for the some 50 homeless men to to move out from the hobo camp, set up under the overpass and alongside some railroad tracks. Nearby businesses had called for clearing the area.

Joe Riddle, director of the city's department of of community reinvestment told GPB News that the city plans to clear out the mattresses, blankets and meager personal belongings remaining in the makeshift lodgings in coming days. He says the homeless themselves requested trash cans in order to help clean up the area.

City representatives set up a table at the site for several hours a day twice a week throughout April, and helped the homeless obtain more stable living and, for some, employment arrangement.

Representatives are to meet this week with numerous homeless support groups to coordinate efforts to comprehensively deal with the city's indigent population. Riddle says several dozen are already moving to homes and shelters, and are dealing with alcohol and substance abuse problems.

Elizabeth Alcantara, director of the Homeless Resource Network, says that raised awareness of the plight of Columbus, Phenix City, Al., and the area's some 2,000 indigent residents is itself a positive step.

"We've had some recent newspaper coverage about people sleeping under the bridge; and while many people feel that, 'you know, we're sorry to see that in the paper, and to hear that' - I was thrilled, because it brings attention.

"We think that we're not a big city - we're not New York, we're not Atlanta, and we don't have homelessness here - and we do."

One fact that both Riddle and Alcantara agree on is that Columbus's homeless problem is largely homegrown:

“For the most part, the people that we are serving are from our area,” Alcantara says.

“They're down on their luck,” Riddle says, adding, “a lot of them are from Columbus; they've had a bad situation, and they end up out on the streets.”

Sleeping rough: Mattress, Bible, crutch and
shovel. Click on images for larger view.
(Dave Bender)