Mayor Kasim Reed announced that the Atlanta City Council voted unanimously to authorize Invest Atlanta to issue a $26 million Homeless Opportunity Bond to be matched by a $25 million philanthropic donation from the United Way of Greater Atlanta, for a $50 million total initiative to make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring in the City of Atlanta. The remaining $1 million will cover the costs of the transaction.

Mayor Reed announced the initiative in his final State of the City address, delivered in early February. The $50 million public-private partnership will leverage an additional $66 million in public resources for a total investment of $115.6 million. Over the next three years, this investment will:

Place 500 chronically homeless individuals in permanent supportive housing;

Secure housing for 300 homeless families who will be rapidly rehoused in permanent units;

Prevent 100 families from entering homelessness;

Create 264 new emergency shelter beds; and

Create 254 new housing interventions for homeless youth.

“I am proud to announce that with the unanimous approval of the Atlanta City Council, we will move forward with our $50 million commitment to make homelessness rare and brief in the City of Atlanta,” said Mayor Reed. “From my first day in office, my Administration has worked to address homelessness by implementing proven solutions and by working in close partnership with local providers. Over the past four years, our efforts have decreased homelessness by more than 50 percent, but we can and must do more.”

Mayor Reed added, “We now have the opportunity to end chronic homelessness in our city, and ensure that all women, men and children – regardless of circumstance – have the chance to live stable, meaningful lives and participate fully in their communities. I am thankful for the support of the Atlanta City Council and our partners at the United Way of Greater Atlanta, and I look forward to continued partnership as we execute this vital plan.”

Mayor Reed established Partners for Home, a non-profit organization to convene the Atlanta Continuum of Care in 2013. He named Cathryn F. Marchman, LCSW, director of PFH in 2015, following a national search.

“I want to express my thanks to Mayor Reed for his vision and his ceaseless support of our work to move individuals out of homelessness,” said Cathryn Marchman. “I also want to recognize the work of Federal, State and local agencies and housing authorities which provide funds, expertise and leadership, as well as our partner service providers across the Continuum-of-Care. Working together over the next three years, these resources will enable us to offer life-changing housing opportunities for hundreds of individuals and families.”

Following its most recent surveys and annual point in time count, PFH identified that 3,572 individuals are homeless in Atlanta; of this number, 1,567 are in emergency shelters, 1,324 are in transitional housing and 681 individuals are unsheltered. Ten percent of the total suffer from chronic homelessness.

PFH recently completed its five-year, comprehensive plan to make homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring. The plan, called ClearPath, establishes an approach to end chronic homelessness by 2019.  The proceeds of this bond will go directly to support the goals of ClearPath.

The ClearPath plan calls for $16 million to fund the creation of 200 housing placements each year for the next three years. These placements will be created through the acquisition, renovation and operation of existing housing stock. Approximately $7.6 million will be used to establish two to three emergency, low-barrier shelters for temporary placement while individuals and families await a permanent housing unit. The City will seek opportunities to add capacity to existing shelters or use previously-closed shelters and will seek to partner with non-governmental service providers.

Finally, the ClearPath plan will dedicate $400,000 to establish a coordinated entry system to vastly improve communication between service providers and facilitate connecting individuals and families with appropriate resources as quickly as possible.

According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the City of Atlanta has decreased the number of unsheltered homeless individuals by 52 percent; the number of chronically homeless individuals has declined 61 percent; and the number of homeless veterans has declined by 62 percent, all since 2013. Since Mayor Reed accepted President Obama’s challenge to end veteran homelessness, the Atlanta Continuum of Care has permanently housed more than 1,000 veterans.