Will Augusta’s homeless count show increase in population?
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Augusta’s homeless population is growing.
This month, more than 100 volunteers have been counting every person facing homelessness to get a better idea of the crisis in our community.
It’s called a “point in time” count, and directly affects how much federal funding our local nonprofits receive.
Augusta’s Homeless Task Force oversees this count, which is led by Nomi Stanton.
Stanton says she worries that Hurricane Helene might have added to our homeless population.
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That’s because, after Helene, so many were either dispersed or displaced.
For the task force, it’s not a question of if the hurricane impacts the count. It’s more so how it will impact the count.
We drive on roads as a means of transportation.
For some, it’s home.
“We are never going to eradicate homelessness. We are a city,” said Stanton.
But together, Stanton says, “We don’t know what we don’t know, but uncovering those things so that we can figure out our strategic plan on how we help people remove barriers.”
She says it can create long-term fixes.
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“We don’t want to put a band-aid over things. If you’re going to put all of the effort and the work into a point in time count so that we can identify barriers, we need to come up with solutions,” she said.
While the faces of homelessness change over the years, the numbers do as well.
“We have not, in Augusta, experienced a natural disaster before. So, it would be, I think, ignorant to say, I wonder if this is going to impact us because there’s no doubt that it already has,” said Stanton.
It’s a matter of turning words into action.
“There is no such thing as a perfect family. But what we can do, and even our community, like there’s no such thing as a perfect community. But we have the most perfect partners willing to work together. That is from the nonprofit side as well as community leaders who work for our government and really want to help people. And that perfect marriage is what it’s going to take. And we see that. We see the progress,” she said.
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Aiken County is set to be on track to have more people without homes than in the past. The county is wrapping up its annual “point in time”, or PIT, count.
Stanton says getting the numbers is just the start.
“We know because we’ve been doing this for years now, and so now it’s time to take those things and actually see progress,” said Stanton.
The task force is looking at getting community care tickets, because figuring out how to get people around town is still one of their biggest challenges right now.
If you’d like to get involved with brainstorming possible solutions, the task force invites you to attend one of their meetings at the Kroc Center.
Those dates include:
- February 27, 2025 at 3 p.m.
- March 27, 2025 at 3 p.m.
- April 24, 2025 at 3 p.m.
- May 22, 2025 at 3 p.m.
- June 26, 2025 at 3 p.m.
- July 24, 2025 at 3 p.m.
- August 28, 2025 at 3 p.m.
- September 25, 2025 at 3 p.m.
- October 23, 2025 at 3 p.m.
- November 20, 2025 at 3 p.m.
- December 18, 2025 at 3 p.m.
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