Out and About: Lighting the Way (Part 1 of 2)
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
– Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus
By KATIE ANDERSON, Special to The Paper
It only takes a stroll in pretty much any US city to see that homelessness is an issue. The problem is not new, nor easy to solve, nor simple to write about.
As I looked into the research, the numbers were worse than expected, and particularly sobering when realizing that each number represents a name. A human being. Each number representing someone’s child, parent, sibling, or neighbor.
Kelli Yeager, Executive Director of Bridging the Gap, leads one of the many local organizations working to improve the numbers and the lives of our unhoused residents. Bridging the Gap, now the largest food pantry on the south side of Atlanta, provides food assistance to around 400 families, a number which has risen 300% over the last 18 months. Fifty-two percent of their clients were new in 2023.
In addition to food, Bridging the Gap also provides showers, laundry access, hot meals, help with securing IDs and documents, financial education, and housing. There is no shelter in Coweta County (except for NEST, a warming shelter.) The closest shelter is in Carrollton.
To use the term unhoused or unsheltered in lieu of homeless “helps to expand understanding of who these people are. Our unhoused population comes from a wide range of backgrounds, many of whom are working, and we want to get away from any stereotype that people may have in their minds,” said Yeager.
“Many clients are senior citizens who live in their cars. Rent has increased dramatically, and seniors who were paying $600/month for the last 10-15 years are now being asked to pay $1200 – $1800/month. These seniors have to move out, and have enough social security to afford a hotel for two weeks and then live in their cars the other two weeks,” said Yeager.
Affordable housing is an ongoing issue everywhere, especially during and after the pandemic. But Coweta was given an extra challenge with a devastating tornado in March 2021, displacing many residents. High inflation rates have been an issue, as well.
According to the United Way’s 2023 ALICE Report (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), forty-three percent of Cowetans in 2021 were unable to afford the basics of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and technology. Georgia’s ALICE rate is one of the worst in the country, with only Alabama, West Virginia, Louisiana, and Mississippi having higher scores.
With numbers like these, our nonprofits need our help. Bridging the Gap needs volunteers to assist with home deliveries, events, the warehouse, the website, prayer teams, and summer lunch programs.
They also need monetary donations, to use to buy food in bulk at the Atlanta food bank.
“We can buy 12 family size boxes of cereal for $1. People often get 10 boxes for $10 at the grocery store to donate. For $10, btg can purchase 120 boxes,” she said.
They also need to find partners to help with food distribution in Arnco-Sargent, Greenville, and Palmetto. If you’d like to help in any way, or if you need help, contact Bridging the Gap at 770-683-9110. They are located at 19 First Avenue in Newnan.
This is part one of a two-part series on Lighting the Way. For more on what’s being done to help our unhoused population, read part two in next month’s issue.
