United Way of Central Georgia’s United to End Homelessness initiative is immediately beginning its work to bring together providers of homelessness support services, engaged community members, government agencies, and others to begin developing a county-wide strategic plan to end homelessness. The first strategy sessions to begin developing this plan will be at the Robert Train Building (175 Oglethorpe Street) on Thursday, October 20, from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. for invited community members and 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.for service providers and organizations.

“The only way we are going to end homelessness in Macon-Bibb is by working together, by sharing information, knowledge, expertise, and resources,” says Reverend Dr. Jake Hall, who was recently hired as Executive Director of United to End Homelessness. “What began with the Brookdale Resource Center providing a warm and safe place to stay has become a county-wide movement to truly address the issue of homelessness and improve the lives of families and individuals.”

Dr. Hall will lead the planning effort and sessions, and during the next three months, he will conduct a community-wide, data-driven assessment to identify the types of homelessness most prevalent in Macon-Bibb. The discovery and engagement process will involve national experts on homelessness and multiple gatherings of government officials, citizens, and primary providers.

“This is about helping the people who need us the most, whether it’s as simple as finding them an apartment they can afford regularly to getting them identification, job, and support services so they are strong enough to afford permanent housing,” says Mayor Lester Miller. “Each person and family’s situation is different, and that’s what we’re doing now: figuring out what our community needs, how to best get the resources and services to the people that need them, and what other resources we need to make available.”

"United Way of Central Georgia's mission is to disrupt the cycle of family poverty. As part of our mission, we must address homelessness in our region," said George McCanless, President & CEO of UWCG. "Poverty has many symptoms, including homelessness. In all our initiatives, we strive to alleviate the symptoms of poverty, low reading scores, lack of school readiness, inaccessibility to lifesaving mammograms, veteran needs, etc. Taking on the issue of homelessness is a logical fit for United Way to continue its work to disrupt the cycle of poverty in Central Georgia. For more than 100 years, we have worked collaboratively with nonprofit, for profit, and government agencies to accomplish what no entity can do alone."

“We need to know and understand the types of homelessness people face here so we can find the best resources to meet their needs and find them permanent housing,” says Dr. Hall. “We, as a community, are coming together to make sure we understand the work in front of us, combine resources and effort, and put people at the forefront of all that we do.”