In Athens, Georgia, Homelessness Persists Despite Efforts to Address the Crisis

As the sun sets on a typical evening in Athens, Georgia, college students stumble out of bars and weave their way down College Avenue. Many oblivious to the world around them, they laugh and chatter in their own little worlds of textbooks and parties. But if one were to look closer, beyond the bright lights and neon signs, they would see a darker reality, a town where people have spent their entire lives struggling to get by. On any given day, it's not uncommon to see individuals sleeping on benches, panhandling for spare change, or simply wandering aimlessly while the rest of the town carries on with their daily lives.

For many years Athens has been known as home to the University of Georgia, one of the largest public universities in the United States. With every new batch of students admitted, the town's population swells, making it increasingly difficult for locals to afford to live in their own community. As property values rise, more and more families find themselves pushed out of their homes, struggling to keep up with the high cost of living.

But the impact of the town's rapid growth extends far beyond simply driving up the cost of living. As the student population continues to increase, so too does the number of homeless individuals who call Athens home.

Efforts to address the issue of homelessness in Athens have been ongoing, but progress has been slow. Nonprofits and community organizations have stepped up to provide resources and support to those in need, but the scale of the problem is simply too large for any one group to tackle alone. As the town continues to grow and change, it remains to be seen whether a solution can be found that balances the needs of the community as a whole with the needs of its most vulnerable members.

This is inside the offices of Family Promise.

Family Promise is an organization whose mission is to support families at risk of homelessness or experiencing homelessness. A small event can spiral into being late on rent. A flat tire, a sick kid, or an injury combined with an hourly job can lead to being late on rent and possibly evicted. “So many families are living paycheck to paycheck and they oftentimes will have some sort of emergency event that will make them get behind,” said Madison Sanders, executive director of Family Promise. 

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) definition, an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence is considered homeless. This might include those living in cars, sleeping on couches of friends or family, or spending nights in motels or hotels when they cannot afford long-term housing. But within this definition of homelessness, there are two distinct categories, sheltered and unsheltered, that are used by the PIT Count to conduct a census of the homeless population.

The PIT count from a report created from the data in last year’s PIT and HIC Count.

The distinction between sheltered and unsheltered homelessness has significant implications for those who are seeking assistance from HUD-funded homeless assistance programs. Depending on their situation, individuals may be eligible for different types of aid, but they first must be correctly classified.

Unsheltered homelessness refers to individuals who are living in a place not meant for human habitation. This might include sleeping on park benches, under bridges, or in other public spaces. These are the individuals who are often most visible to the general public. 

Sheltered homelessness refers to individuals who are staying in emergency shelters or transitional housing. These individuals have sought out assistance and are working with organizations to try and find a way out of their current situation. 

The number of unsheltered homeless in Athens-Clarke County is the highest since 2017. Lillian Sronkoski is a homeless specialist for Athens-Clarke County’s Department of Housing and Community Development division. She works closely monitoring funding and allocating resources to organizations like Family Promise and Athens Homeless Coalition in the hope of ending homelessness in Athens-Clarke County. 

This is inside the main office of the Housing and Community Development department.

As a government entity, the Housing and Community Department supports Service-based organizations like Family Promise, The Arc, Bigger Vision, Salvation Army, etc, which are all applicants that receive funding and support from the ACC government. This is how the Athens Alliance Coalition was able to receive the support needed to open First Step, a government-sanctioned homeless encampment. 

Inflation has raised the price of food, gas, and rent. The price of everything has gone up making it harder for families to afford what they need. With a high demand for housing from college students, the cost of rent is driven up, leaving those who are struggling to make ends meet with fewer options for affordable housing.

“Athens-Clarke County is the single poorest county for populations with at least 100,000 people in the entire United States, according to the 2010 census bureau,” said Andrew Wilkin, founder of the Homeless Help Card. “The majority of teachers don’t live in Clarke County and students don’t count as residents, so most of the money is going out of the county, mostly to neighboring Oconee County, the single richest county in Georgia.”

In recent years, the cost of rent has skyrocketed across the United States, rising at its fastest rate since 1986. As a result, more and more Americans are finding themselves priced out of the housing market, with homes and apartments increasingly out of reach. The origins of the homelessness crisis go back much further than just the past few years. In fact, experts argue that the current situation is the result of decades of policy decisions that have prevented the U.S. from building enough affordable housing.

“If a landlord has a four-bedroom house they have two options. They could rent to four college students per room and charge each of them between $500-$800 or they could rent to one family. One family is never going to be able to afford the same amount that four college students can afford who often have parents to financially support them,” said Sanders.  

While issues like poverty, mental illness, and addiction can all play a role in homelessness, experts agree that the root cause is a supply-and-demand problem. Without enough housing to meet demand, not everyone has a place to live. And as more and more people compete for a limited supply of homes, the cost of housing rises - putting even more people at risk of homelessness. It's a vicious cycle that affects communities across the country and one that shows no signs of slowing down. 

According to the Athens Homeless Coalition, a board made up of executive members of direct service-based organizations and landlords, there are currently 283 people experiencing homelessness that have been counted in the area. Of those, 112 are unsheltered, while the remaining 209 are in shelters or transitional housing. 

As Sronkoski, a member of the Athens Homeless Coalition, notes, the increase in homelessness indicates a larger trend that's been playing out across the globe for the past decade: a lack of affordable housing. The University of Georgia presents its own challenges in its relationship with the city as developers scramble to meet the demand for housing from middle-class young people.

In the state of Georgia, it's illegal to put rent ceilings in place. Rent will go as high as it needs to exceed the market rate. The only way to prevent drastic increases is through policy. Right now there’s a lot of catchup being done to convince landlords and developers that building affordable housing is in their best interest. A landlord engagement committee is in charge of building those relationships. There are tax incentives in place that developers can utilize to build more affordable housing, but there is only so much you can do when these developers are all competing with one another. 

As Athens and other communities across the country grapple with the ongoing homelessness crisis, it's clear that bold action is needed to address the root causes of this problem and ensure that everyone has a safe and stable place to call home.