Emotional journey for Atlanta's homeless as city races to house 400 people before the World Cup

ATLANTA – Allen Hall called it a “very emotional experience” as he boarded a bus with more than 20 other former residents of an Atlanta homeless encampment where a close friend had been fatally injured earlier this year by a bulldozer that struck his tent.

Although the city and its partners secured housing by mid-July for everyone they thought lived in the downtown encampment along Old Wheat Street, Hall and seven others moved temporarily into a hotel funded by advocates.

“It was like something was changing for us, for real,” Hall said, recalling the day this summer when friends and acquaintances moved into apartments after spending years sleeping on sidewalks.

Atlanta and the agencies that provide services for the city's surging homeless population have been mobilizing resources for an ambitious plan to “eliminate” homelessness before visitors arrive for eight World Cup games next summer. By the end of the year, they're aiming to house some 400 people living on downtown streets.

There are challenges, though, including long waitlists for city-funded supportive living spaces that often require documentation unhoused people like Hall lack. Many have built communities downtown where social services are accessible, and it can be easy to miscount the number of people living in encampments.

A tragic death galvanizes advocates

Tensions skyrocketed after Cornelius Taylor’s death in January as the city attempted to clear the Old Wheat Street encampment ahead of the celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday at nearby Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King had preached. Amid the uproar, the city temporarily suspended clearing the Old Wheat Street encampment and others, before resuming the actions this month.

Some, including Hall — who has spent more than three decades living on streets — were eventually offered shelter spaces and the support of case workers in finding housing, but he turned the shelter down. Many say they’d rather live on the streets than in shelters with strict rules known for poor or unsafe conditions.

The city originally offered housing to 14 people case workers counted at the encampment but agreed to help others after residents and advocates said there were at least twice as many living there. Hall said he had been living at the encampment residents called “Backstreet” for five years but didn’t make the list.

“Whether or not these were residents at one time, we rallied the requisite amount of housing that we could for the individuals that were known to us,” said Cathryn Vassell, CEO of Partners for HOME, the organization that leads Atlanta's homelessness services. “The additional names were brought at the last minute and we’re trying to rally like we do for everybody in our system an appropriate resource for them.”

Counting complications

Case workers came up with the list of 14 by going to the encampment early in the morning and at night for several months to count and build relationships with those living there, according to city partners.

Seven additional people have been housed, said Vassell, and most of those housed are at a supportive housing complex called Welcome House.

A city spokesperson said the eight individuals advocates with the Justice for Cornelius Taylor Coalition were paying to house turned down offers to live in shelters. Most, including Hall, didn’t have adequate identifying documents for Welcome House, Vassell said, but agencies are trying to find them options.

Advocates want officials to act faster and say those who got housing aren't receiving enough resources.

“They say they’re gonna do good things, but we can’t take care of these eight people?” said Tim Franzen, a member of the Justice for Cornelius Taylor Coalition who has long criticized the city’s policies on homelessness. “There’s been months to prepare for this. There’s not a real plan.”

Next steps

Shun Palmour moved into the encampment with his family a few months ago after losing his smoke shop job. The city placed him, his girlfriend, two kids and his girlfriend's mother at a Motel 6.

“No one comes out and checks on us,” Palmour said. “Nobody comes out to make sure we’re eating.”

Management tried to kick them out of the motel three times, and other times they got locked out of their room, Palmour said last week.

He said they’ve been assigned a case manager from a local nonprofit but the uncertainty makes him nervous.

“We’re very appreciative of what’s taking place but when they stop and put us out, are we gonna end back up homeless or back on the street after this or what?” Palmour said. “Nobody’s letting us know what’s the next step.”

A spokesperson for the city said they are providing dinner and working to get them into housing.

Hall has since moved into another temporary unit. He still wears a bracelet gifted to him by Taylor before his death. While at the hotel, he hardly left and relished feeling “cozy” in his own space with books thrown around and news blasting from the TV.

“It’s the normal things that people get to do,” Hall said. “Take a cup of coffee, just simple things that people take for granted every day.”

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Kramon reported from Atlanta. She is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.