Hamilton County hits milestone in reducing homelessness

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Mayor Tim Kelly announced a milestone Chattanooga and Hamilton County have achieved in reducing homelessness.

In just one year, Hamilton County has seen nearly a 40% reduction in homelessness.

The city, along with the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, implemented new ways of getting people off the streets.

They are using a “housing first strategy” and a new mapping software.

The Point in Time Count allows the city to count the number of sheltered and unsheltered people throughout the county in one night. They do this every January, and report the numbers to HUD.

They plan to repeat this in the summer as well.

In January of 2023, 785 people were homeless in Hamilton County. But that number in 2022 was 1,144 people.

Total homelessness is down 31.4%, while the number of unsheltered residents in Hamilton County is down 39.8%.

HUD expected homelessness to be down 25%, so Hamilton County has surpassed that expectation.

Kelly’s administration and the housing authority also state they are putting an emphasis in targeting homeless veterans and families in the county.

The speakers included a spokesman from the federal government on housing.

“We experienced one of the largest increases in homelessness in the nation. But through the work that you’ve done over the last year, homelessness is now decreasing by a significant amount,” Richard Cho, HUD Senior Advisor for Housing and Services. “This is maybe the greatest turnaround story I’ve ever heard of in our nation’s homelessness response.”

Organizations plan to add more than 130 permanent support housing units in the county. They are adding multiple new shelters as well.

Mayor Kelly says their work isn’t finished, though. He calls on the community, including landlords and churches, to assist in housing people in need.

He says one person on the streets in Chattanooga is too many.