Confirmed: New 2023 Data Shows Drastic Increase In Columbus Homelessness

Confirmed: New 2023 Data Shows Drastic Increase In Columbus Homelessness

Earlier this week, we talked about how last year’s rise in Columbus homelessness was expected to increase for 2023. Now, new data just released by Home For Good confirms the increase was far worse than expected. Explore the full story to see the data for yourself.

An artistic expression derived from photographs of a Columbus man experiencing homelessness in a woodland encampment just off a major arterial roadway in Columbus, Georgia. The man’s facial features have been digitally altered to protect his identity. New data from Home For Good recently confirmed the 2023 increase in Columbus homelessness was far worse than expected after numbers began rising last year in a trend reversal.

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Muscogee Muckraker

By

Muscogee Muckraker

Published

January 28, 2023

Updated

February 14, 2023 1:55 AM

ET

COLUMBUS, Ga. — New data released by Home For Good confirms that homelessness increased again in Columbus at a rate much higher than anticipated.

Earlier this week on Jan. 25, we discussed how last year’s increase in Columbus homelessness — the first in many years — was expected to be repeated again for 2023. Now, new data released by Home For Good confirms the increase was far worse than expected.

The new 2023 data shows a staggering 13.58% increase from last year alone.

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After conducting its 2023 “Point In Time Count” between Jan. 23-24, Home For Good published that there are now 276 people currently experiencing homelessness in the Columbus, Ga. area.

Last year, there were only 243.

In 2021, that number was even lower at 239.

THE RAPID RISE

After many years of optimistic steady decline, the rate of Columbusites experiencing homelessness began to bottom-out in 2019, quickly rounding out at its lowest point in 2021.

From 2021-2022, homelessness in Columbus rose for the first time since at least 2016. Though last year’s 2% increase may have seemed small, it was indicative of a trend reversal that forebode even greater increases ahead.

With a 13.58% increase from 2022-2023, that projected increase is now confirmed in what could reasonably be called a severe rapid rise.

HOW TO HELP

Each year, Home For Good conducts what is called a “Point In Time” Count, or PIT Count, for short. Trained volunteers venture out into our community to count and survey those who are experiencing both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness. Those volunteers also connect those experiencing homelessness with the resources and opportunities they may desperately need.

One of those volunteers could be you.

If you’re interested in becoming a trained Home For Good volunteer, you can easily reach out to the organization through their website or visit them at First Presbyterian Church at 1100 First Avenue, Columbus, GA 31901.

Home For Good is a program of the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley.

Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.

-30-

© 2023 Muscogee Muckraker. All rights reserved.

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