Homeward Bound program touted for success after county investment

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- With the cold settling in across the Tennessee Valley, those in the homeless community are especially vulnerable to its impact.

However, a new program seems to be providing some positive results.

As homelessness, especially in downtown Chattanooga, continues to be an ongoing issue leaders attempt to tackle, Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp says that a recent county investment at one specific program he says is leading to a massive difference for over 100 individuals.

Steve Brookes, the executive director of the Downtown Chattanooga Alliance, said that on a visit of Miller Park in 2024, “We had homeless folks coming to Miller Park, and as our ambassadors talked to them, and I spoke with individuals, we found out that many of them were stranded in Tennessee and had friends and family in other cities.”

That discovery led to the creation of the Homeward Bound Program.

Operated by the Downtown Chattanooga Alliance, is designed to allow homeless individuals who live in downtown Chattanooga an opportunity to be reconnected with family members.

This is through giving them the opportunity to travel to those homes, and not through a random one way ticket out of town.

Brookes said, “These families don’t have the means to get them home, and these folks who are here don’t have a job, or have a safe place to go, so getting them into a safer space gives them that chance.”

Mayor Wamp says that 107 people have been helped by the program since the county invested $25,000 over the past year. 

He says that the county sees this program as a way to help improve downtown safety and reduce costs to taxpayers at the Hamilton County Jail.

Mayor Wamp said, “This has been done at an incredibly efficient expense to taxpayers. In fact we didn’t use local tax funds to fund it. We used opioid abatement funds, as a lot of folks who are homeless are also dealing with addiction. 37 of the people who were sent back to their home are responsible for more than 180 arrests.”

We also spoke with MacKenzie Kelly of the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, who is not involved in this program.

Their current count of homeless individuals is 566 in Hamilton County as of November, with 280 of those being unsheltered.

While she says this program is promising, there is still more that needs to be done to fully address the homeless problem.

Kelly said, “We don’t have a large low barrier shelter in Hamilton county… We’re always having that conversation, especially at our office but also with other partners it is something that we know we need our community needs, but it’s just figuring out how to get us there.”

Kelly says that they are always looking for more partners to help increase the amount of shelters, especially during the current cold weather.

Brookes says that they plan to continue the Homeward Bound program, and look to expand their efforts to help the homeless population in downtown Chattanooga.