Approximately 568,000 Americans experienced homelessness in 2019, according to a point-in-time count by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Now, due to the coronavirus pandemic, this number is expected to increase.
The number of people without permanent housing could rise 45% this year, according to a study by Columbia University.
That’s an additional 250,000 people if unemployment numbers continue to stay at their current rate.
And the pandemic poses another challenge, too: service providers who help the homeless must serve higher numbers of people while following new health and safety measures.
Throughout the nation, cities are trying to find new ways to serve their homeless population.
Los Angeles, Denver and Minnesota have started buying hotel rooms for the unsheltered.
In late November, the City of Atlanta recently launched a new initiative of its own. Using $24 million of funding, mostly from the CARES Act, the City is working to match around 800 unsheltered Atlantans with apartments.
On Tuesday’s edition of “Closer Look,” Cathryn Marchman, executive director of Partners For Home, the nonprofit leading this effort, joined host Rose Scott for a conversation about this initiative and some of the barriers her organization faces when serving the city’s unsheltered.
To hear the full conversation, click on the audio player above.
