Untangling Homelessness: Street Teams Were Busier Than Ever During COVID-19 Pandemic
Updated: 12.01/23
Editors note: This story is part of an ongoing series on the issue of homelessness in Midtown. It was originally published in October 2020.
Even before the pandemic, addressing homelessness was one of Atlanta’s more pressing issues, including in the Midtown district.
Weighing prominently on the list of quality of life challenges identified in past Midtown Community Surveys, concerns around homelessness intensified in 2020 when much of the city shut down. We fielded questions monthly from residents and returning workers — in our inboxes, on our social media accounts, during our Let’s Talk Midtown virtual update and on the streets — asking how the pandemic has affected people experiencing homelessness in the district and what is being done to help them.
To learn more about the multi-faceted response, we spoke to homeless outreach organizations with active street teams serving the Midtown area – and across the city – to ask how they adjusted their field work in the middle of a global health crisis, what services they’re currently offering and how you can help support their efforts.
Pandemic’s Effect on Homeless Population
reached out in greater numbers asking about what can be done to help.
Homeless Outreach Adapted During COVID-19
Homeless shelters, food ministries and other outreach organizations learned along with the rest of the world about how COVID-19 spreads and how it can be mitigated or prevented. Early in the pandemic, some service providers closed their doors or suspended the intake of new cases, removing critical lifelines to those in need.
Meanwhile, organizations like Hope Atlanta and Intown Collaborative Ministries that conduct outreach via street teams also took on the role of educating people experiencing homelessness about the virus.
“We’re the best ones to get to people who are the most vulnerable, because our teams are used to going out to different encampments,” said Jeff Smythe, CEO of Hope Atlanta, an organization dedicated to fighting homelessness since the early 1900s. “There was some fear at first, not knowing the symptoms, but after we got our arms around it we were full speed ahead.”
“We gave our staff the option to continue working in the field, and 100% of them said ‘Yes, this is when we’re needed the most,’” said Brad Schweerz, Executive Director at Intown Collaborative Ministries, a local nonprofit that performs the outreach work of a citywide initiative called HomeFirst. “We’ve pivoted so many times working to get information out and getting food out to people.”
A coordinated local effort with World Central Kitchen provided about 1,000 meals a day, seven days a week for about four months in early 2020. This worldwide organization worked to mobilize several Atlanta-based restaurants to feed those in need and keep workers employed, including caterers Proof of the Pudding, and Hugh Acheson’s Empire State South in Midtown.
Another important component of outreach during the pandemic was, of course, COVID-19 testing. Since 1985, Mercy Care has been providing health services to people experiencing homelessness, and during the pandemic it distributed hygiene kits and offered tests.
“For the most part, the people who believe there is something happening [that COVID-19 is spread through close contact] understand the symptoms,” said Yvette Williams, who heads up Mercy Care’s CHOP team. “For others it was a work in progress.”
In spring 2020, the city and philanthropic community came together to provide $3 million to fund two hotels to house unsheltered people. One was dedicated to isolating those who had COVID-19, and the other was a “healthy hotel” for people older than 65 or with underlying conditions that made them more susceptible to the virus. It was not only the largest single investment in the city to stop the spread of COVID-19 among the unsheltered, but also a great example of what can be achieved when different outreach groups partner with a common goal.
Operations of both hotels were overseen by Partners for HOME. Gateway Center hired the resident assistance and operations team, and Hope Atlanta and Intown Collaborative Ministries case managers worked to connect people staying at the hotels with longer-term housing and other services. Mercy Care provided testing to monitor the health of hotel residents and ensure any potential outbreaks were quickly contained.
What’s Next: Finding Innovative, Long-Term Solutions
The effects of the pandemic and economic fallout rippled across the City of Atlanta, along with the rest of the country. But through a combination of policy decisions, leveraging federal monies made available through the crises and on-the-ground partnerships that reach people where they are, this was also Atlanta’s moment to seize the homelessness problem, make meaningful progress and emerge stronger.
The city earmarked $11 million from the nearly $90 million it received from the CARES Act, along with other philanthropic and city funding to find housing for up to 2,000 people by the end of 2021. Intown Collaborative Ministries worked with the Atlanta Housing Authority and landlords to find the units needed to meet this goal, while Partners for HOME looked to raise an additional $3.6 million needed to close the gap between funds currently available and the program's strategic objectives.
The city also allocated $22 million of funding received from the CARES Act to create a COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which helped provide rental, utility and security deposit assistance to 6,700 Atlanta residents. Midtown Assistance Center, a non-profit dedicated to helping people at risk of losing their housing since the late 1980s, was one of 24 organizations selected to distribute funding for the program. MAC had no trouble identifying households who need the money, as last year it tripled the amount of services it normally provides.
Another new approach was Hope Atlanta’s partnership with MARTA. The pilot project paired two Hope Atlanta case managers with trained Field Protective Specialists under the auspices of the MARTA Police Department to engage with unsheltered individuals on the agency’s property.
Midtown Blue Public Safety Officers Undergo Homeless Outreach Training
Midtown Blue, the public safety force that acts as the “eyes and ears” of the Midtown community, also stepped up its homeless outreach program. Workers on the front-lines will tell you that it takes an average of nine to 15 interactions before a person experiencing homelessness will accept help, which makes it all the more important to offer them meaningful information that can actually help people improve their lives. Now, all of Midtown Blue PSOs are receiving training on homeless outreach.
The pandemic has made the issue of homelessness more difficult than ever to navigate. But we can be assured that there will be workers on the front lines fighting to end homelessness through innovative partnerships that likely wouldn’t have happened before.
How You Can Help
There are more than 100 medical, public safety, non-profit and housing organizations working to end homelessness in Atlanta. And there are many ways you can get involved.
Donate
Instead of giving money to an individual experiencing homelessness, consider donating your time, money or other items like food, face masks and sanitizer to these organizations or others fighting to end homelessness. Here’s where you can contribute to the non-profits mentioned in the Untangling Homelessness series and other organizations in Midtown:
Street Teams:
Supportive Services:
- Community Friendship Inc.
- First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta Community Ministries
- Lutheran Church of the Redeemer
- Midtown Assistance Center
Shelters:
Get Support
Share resources for those experiencing homelessness. See a list of open shelters here.
If you need assistance with rent and utilities, visit here.
Learn More:
- Read other stories in our Untangling Homelessness investigative series