Colder Weather Means More Demand at Homeless Shelters

But once the cold weather starts, there’s always more demand than supply, said Beaty. “When the weather is really extremely dangerous and gets cold suddenly like this, we just gear up for more folks to be coming in and for us to be much more vigilant and to outreach people and to understand that people’s lives are at stake.” 

Beaty says people who had been living in the woods around town started coming into shelters Monday morning knowing they wouldn’t be able to face another night in the cold. She says more than 50 people in our area died last year from causes related directly to homelessness. On Thursday, each of their names will be read during a requiem mass at The Cathedral of St. Philip in Buckhead.

That day, the Cathedral will provide dinner for all residents of local shelters. Transportation from the shelters will be provided.

The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless operates a 24-hour hotline to refer people to shelters with space. The hotline number is 404-477-3678.

Details on all events scheduled for Thursday, November 1, which is Atlanta’s 24^th annual Homeless Memorial Day, can be found here.

A list of all of the task force’s programs can be found here.