The Nabbar Court No. 123 hosted its annual Thanksgiving Dinner for the unhoused community. In partnership with Restoring One’s Hope, Bridge of Light and Centric Barber Lounge, the group fed the city of Atlanta’s homeless with healthy meals. They also provided mobile showers, executed laundry showers and provided mobile barbering.
This event was very much needed as the 2024 point-in-time count found that there were about 2,867 people experiencing homelessness in Atlanta, which is a 7-percent increase from 2023. A quarter of the homeless population are women and girls, with 35 percent over the age of 55. Nearly half of Atlanta’s homeless adults (48 percent) are believed to have a serious mental illness.
What’s behind homelessness?
The housing market is considered the main factor in the increase in homelessness, with rents increasing and vacancy rates decreasing. More working people are experiencing homelessness, including warehouse employees, hospitality and food service workers, teachers, and city government employees. Nearly 12,000 metro Atlanta public school students are unhoused. Lower-income Black workers whose wages aren’t keeping up with rent prices are driving the growth in Atlanta’s homeless population. Black people, who make up about 47 percent of the city’s population, represented 86 percent of Atlanta residents living on the streets, in shelters, or in temporary housing, a 3-percentage-point increase from last year’s census.
The event had a large attendance bringing smiles to the local community as volunteers dropped off their gently worn clothes and took pictures with former NFL players.
