The order will provide close to $5 million to assist those without permanent housing.
Fox 5 Atlanta reports that Mayor Andre Dickens recently signed an executive order to reduce Atlanta’s growing homeless population.
The order, signed on Jan. 24, will provide close to $5 million to assist those without permanent housing. Dickens says everyone could be in similar situations, so it’s time to work through the issue. “Every single one of us is one bad day, one disaster, one serious illness or tragedy away from experiencing homelessness,” Dickens said.
“Today, I am announcing that I am issuing an executive order allowing $4.6 million to the appropriate city departments to expand shelter services, warming centers operations, additional shelter sites, and provide the wraparound services and security needed to go along with these additional locations.”
The initiative aims to give the city’s most vulnerable citizens a place to call their own. Atlanta’s streets are paved with hundreds of unhoused men, women, and children sleeping in tents and on blankets.
To provide more safety for homeless transitions, H.O.P.E. Team officers and members of the Atlanta Police Department have promised not to criminalize homelessness. “These officers are now equipped every time they encounter an individual that’s experiencing homelessness,” Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said. “They have more ready, available opportunities to get the individual off the street.”
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Source: Black Enterprise
