News

City Of Atlanta Announces Plans To End Chronic Homelessness For Veterans

September 24th, 2012

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Atlanta Veterans Affairs unveiled a new plan today aimed at ending chronic homelessness among Atlanta veterans. 52-year-old Marine veteran Barrett Griffin remembers what it was like to live on the streets.

It was rough. I became suicidal several times, drinking every day, trying to find somewhere to go, no money to do anything with.

After leaving the service, Griffin fell on hard times and was homeless from 1988 until 2009. Since then he’s gotten help with his mental health, overcoming alcohol addiction and has gained employment at the Georgia Aquarium. And now with the aid of a voucher program, Griffin has moved into his own apartment in East Atlanta.

Last year there were approximately 1,200 homeless veterans in Atlanta, with 400 of those considered chronically homeless.

“It was like a gift from God. It meant a lot. It meant the whole world.”

The voucher program is part of partnership between the federal office of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Veterans Affairs and several other agencies and nonprofits. As part of the partnership, Atlanta and 13 other cities were challenged to house 100 chronically homeless veterans in 100 days. Mayor Reed says the city exceeded that goal and was able to find housing for Griffin and 130 other veterans.

“This is exactly what we should be doing as a city for our veterans.”

But despite meeting the challenge, Mayor Reed says more needs to be done.

“The fact that hundreds of our veterans, brave men and women who sacrificed so much for America, remain in emergency shelters in the streets of Atlanta is not something I’m going to accept as mayor.”

Reed says the city will work with government agencies and non-profit organizations to end chronic homelessness among Atlanta’s veterans by December of next year. To do that, city officials plan to expand housing opportunities for veterans through various partnerships, help coordinate support services, and launch a population registry to identify and survey the homeless. According to last year’s homelessness count, there were approximately 1200 homeless veterans in Atlanta. 400 of those were considered chronically homeless.