Officials say the homeless problem in Anchorage is big and growing and they are directing $775,000 in federal stimulus money to do something about it. The city is hiring a full-time coordinator to address homelessness, and four private agencies are getting funding to hire a worker each, acting Mayor Matt Claman announced on Wednesday.
It was a sign of the times Friday afternoon when dozens of homeless Northeast Georgia residents lined up around the block at a downtown Athens church, waiting for a chance to grab some free clothes, get a lead on a job or find a place to live.
Project Homeless Connect, an annual social services fair organized by the Athens-Clarke County government, was busier than ever.
By 3 p.m., an hour after the fair started, more than 200 people had already walked through the doors of First United Methodist Church, compared to 140 last year, said Julie Meehan, executive director of Northeast Georgia Community Connection.
As the recession looms over much of the country, many Athens residents are feeling the pinch through job losses and home foreclosures. As a result, some Athens homeless shelters are struggling to accommodate new entries.
"We are primarily a shelter for families and try to provide them with a transitional housing space for up to two years, in hopes of getting them back on their feet again. But we have limited space, and unfortunately right now we have a long waiting list," said Alison Spiers, a University graduate and executive director of the Athens Area Homeless Shelter.
CCNV is a model shelter with a bed capacity of 1,350 for homeless men, women and children. It is located in the heart of Washington, D.C., just a few blocks from the Capitol.
CCNV, a nonprofit organization, has been serving the homeless community for more than thirty years.
CCNV's Mission is to ensure that the rights of the homeless and poor are not infringed upon and that every person has access to life's basic essentials -- food, shelter, clothing and medical care. CCNV is also committed to protecting the rights of the homeless, advocating on behalf of the underserved, and preparing homeless men and woman to re-enter into mainstream society as skilled and productive citizens.
Like a dozen or so other cities across the nation, Fresno is dealing with an unhappy déjà vu: the arrival of modern-day Hoovervilles, illegal encampments of homeless people that are reminiscent, on a far smaller scale, of Depression-era shantytowns. At his news conference on Tuesday night, President Obama was asked directly about the tent cities and responded by saying that it was “not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours.”
While encampments and street living have always been a part of the landscape in big cities like Los Angeles and New York, these new tent cities have taken root — or grown from smaller enclaves of the homeless as more people lose jobs and housing — in such disparate places as Nashville, Olympia, Wash., and St. Petersburg, Fla.
