CATALYST - WINTER 2019 Volume 2 No 1 | Page 6

With Healthcare Georgia Foundation support, no innovative solutions to homelessness i Housing’s Link to BEHIND THE DATA • A deaf Atlanta man struggling with substance abuse seeks housing assistance and a last chance at recovery. • A family of six is homeless after their South Georgia trailer is destroyed by a hurricane and their landlord refuses to rebuild. • An Augusta executive loses his home after medical bills for cancer care leave his family bankrupt. 6 F ederal statistics from January 2017 showed more than 10,000 homeless people in Georgia. Since 2015, the number of homeless Georgians has dropped almost 30 percent. But the homeless population isn’t static. Though they are fewer in numbers, each statistic represents a human story and homeless Georgians are still suffering and still in need. The unifying condition for virtually all of Georgia’s homeless population is poverty and that has a direct impact on health. Living on the street or in homeless shelters exacerbates existing health problems and causes new ones. HEALTHCARE GEORGIA FOUNDATION