Atlanta has been engaged in an unprecedented, citywide effort to strengthen support systems for individuals experiencing homelessness before and during the FIFA World Cup.
Across the city and throughout industries, leaders and community members have been working together to expand shelter access, improve service coordination and create safer, more welcoming public spaces for everyone.
This is a powerful moment — and a hopeful one. The World Cup could become a catalyst for deeper collaboration and long-term investment in solutions that address not only homelessness itself, but also many of the underlying factors that contribute to it.
The work happening now should not be viewed as a temporary solution for a global event, but as an opportunity to strengthen systems of care that will serve Atlanta long after visitors leave.
This is a moment to do much more than meet short-term needs. This is our chance, as a community, to establish and invigorate networks aimed at providing transformative and sustainable care to the vulnerable in our community.
Networks of care, rather than isolated initiatives, are crucial because individuals experiencing homelessness do not have isolated struggles.
Chronic homelessness requires additional support
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
At Atlanta Mission, we see every day that homelessness is rarely caused by a single issue. Many individuals experiencing homelessness are navigating cycles of trauma, addiction, untreated mental illness, economic instability, fractured relationships or chronic health challenges.
For that reason, homelessness is not one problem with one solution. Some individuals need short-term stabilization after a crisis. Others require deeper support around the complex challenges they’re facing that have compounded. Effective cities need a continuum of responses, from emergency shelter and outreach to recovery programs, workforce development, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing.
To be clear, housing is essential and deeply needed across our city.
But for many individuals, especially those experiencing chronic homelessness, long-term stability often requires additional support systems alongside housing. Holistic, wraparound support helps individuals not only move indoors but also remain stable and thrive over time.
And for more than 85 years, Atlanta Mission has worked to provide both immediate relief and long-term pathways toward stability.
In addition to emergency shelter and meals, Atlanta Mission provides holistic services to address real needs in the community. This includes addiction recovery programs, counseling, workforce development, transitional support, childcare, spiritual care and long-term relationship-based support designed to address the root causes that often keep individuals trapped in cycles of homelessness.
Communities need to remain engaged to help people in need
We have seen firsthand that trauma-informed, relationship-centered care changes lives.
When individuals are consistently supported, known by name, connected to community and given practical pathways forward, transformation becomes possible. Many guests who once experienced chronic instability are now employed. They’ve reunited with family, they have housing, and they are contributing meaningfully to the community around them.
Collaborative efforts like Downtown Rising have demonstrated the power of coordinated outreach and service navigation. I’ve been encouraged by the growing collaboration among nonprofits, outreach teams, healthcare partners, law enforcement, housing organizations and city leadership around a shared goal of helping more individuals move indoors and toward stability.
Efforts like these work best when communities remain engaged. We need volunteers to serve, employers and businesses to hire, faith communities to offer belonging, healthcare systems to provide holistic healing and everyday residents to help individuals reconnect to the community.
Long-term progress will require long-term investment. Things like outreach, shelter access, mental healthcare, addiction recovery, workforce pathways, affordable and supportive housing, and coordinated systems are all necessary to help individuals navigate services more effectively.
The World Cup has given Atlanta an opportunity to show the world not only what kind of city we are, but also what kind of city we aspire to become. Together, we can use this moment to create safer public spaces, stronger systems of care and lasting pathways toward healing and stability for our most vulnerable neighbors.
Tensley Almand is the president and CEO of Atlanta Mission, Atlanta’s largest and longest-running service provider for those who are experiencing homelessness.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
