Housing Models for Savannah's Homeless: 2010 Update on Family & Kids Homeless Stats in USA, Did FL or GA Change rankings?

In the 2009 report Georgia was ranked overall 49 out of 50 in the states ability, desire, commitment & resolve to address family & children’s homelessnessso when we saw a Facebook post today on the updates & another perspective yesterday on where we are when we read “Storm Cloud Darkens for Homeless Children“.

Georgia is now number 41 (was 49) & Florida is number 42 (was 43) in the current rankings, progress but still shameful!

Additional information available for the media & interested parties here!

The updated report was just released & we want everybody too have access to it here so we are embedding it here:

View this document on Scribd

The question has been raised to the local newspaper about whether Savannah is any better off than the rest of the state of Georgia in this regard & raises the question of needed research on this issue locally.

We are also very interested in getting the Savannah Morning News to do an editorial of support for the 100,000 Homes Campaign before the community comes together to address the Housing First solution here locally!

We need these issues to be front & center in the newly elected City Council & Mayor’s minds & plans for their programs in these areas too!

We will continue our efforts to get the community engaged in a process that will address our issues sooner rather than later!

It in imperative that we address homelessness issues as we put together a Housing Trust here in Savannah too! There was activity in the previous City Council as it relates to a proposal to consider funding the research & start-up of a local Housing Trust to address more affordable housing in Savannah.

Savannah has made great strides in affordable housing with the two projects launched & completed over the past couple of years. The Sustainable Fellwood & Savannah Gardens projects have been recognized nationally as bringing a model together that needs to be adopted in other cities too. We need more of that here in Savannah & the Housing Trust is seen as the way to fund these projects in the future. The Housing Authority of Savannah needs our support!

The issue of bring housing for the homeless into the picture is paramount to ending chronic homelessness in Savannah. This MUST be a priority of the community & embedding the 100K Homes Campaign using the Housing First Model is the recognized solution in many communities.

So we MUST ask, if it works in all these other communities why can’t it work here?

Answers to this question & discussion are welcome!

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