Date August 1, 2023
Dear Community, Family and Friends,
According to HUD, the in state of Georgia, the homeless population in 2022 were over 7,905 persons experiencing literal homelessness in Fulton County Georgia, Metro Atlanta area. The term “literal” includes those unsheltered (living in places not meant for human habitation such as in cars and under highway bridges), sheltered (in homeless shelters and transitional housing), and imminently homeless (facing loss of housing within two weeks). Unfortunately, this number does not include the many persons and families who are forced to live with relatives and friends because they are not able to afford housing of their own. Of the 7,905 persons experiencing homelessness, 65% are women and children and 25 % of that is youth only. The numbers includes over 664 of those people are veterans and 1,354 are just chronically homeless people.
Federal date shows that there are over 10,000 homeless people in the state of Georgia that’s been accounted for, and around one-third of those people are located outside of Georgia cities. ( Aug 29,2022). Fulton County has less than 3,000 registered emergency shelters, transitional housing, and residential rehabilitation programs. Some of the shelter’s loss funding when the pandemic crisis hit. Although, there were funding for housing during the pandemic, Still, there remains 7,905 persons experiencing homelessness in Fulton County.
Designed To Soar Inc.’s mission is to transform the lives of individuals and families from homelessness to being self-sufficient by providing secure resources and assets, which lead to community planning to end homelessness through advocacy and community collaboration. It is our vision that every man, woman, and child will have the opportunity to have suitable, safe, and adequate housing to enable them to experience economic growth.
Who are the homeless? Many mistakenly believe that people become homeless because they do not want to work. Not so. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, between 40 and 60 percent of the homeless population maintain full-time or part-time employment. Many people and families experiencing homelessness are;
- Adults who have or care for a loved one who has mental illness.
- Young adults between the ages of 18 and 21 who have aged out of foster care.
- Adults who are themselves or who care for a loved one with physical or developmental disabilities.
- Working families who have had financial setbacks who cannot afford rental deposits or do not qualify for housing due to credit restrictions.
- The head of the family that was the only “bread winner” passed.
- Veterans not properly connected to mainstream supportive benefits.
- Family members who lost family member who contributed more than half of the income for the family to survive.
You can make a difference! Designed to Soar generously asks for your donations in support of our efforts in moving people and families off the streets and out of shelters into permanent, stable housing. We need you help in donating land, food, clothing, real property that you no longer live in. Another big project we would like to spear head is growing our own crops!
Thank you in advance for your support of our work in our community.
Please call 470-429-3250 for more information.
Kind Regards | Mrs. Gwendlyn Cook, CEO
Designed to Soar, Inc. is a registered IRS 501(c)3 corporation. All donations are tax deductible.