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DeKalb County Commission receives 1,000 signature petition asking for more help for the homeless

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DeKalb County Commission receives 1,000 signature petition asking for more help for the homeless

Around 50 people gathered on the greenspace at Commerce Drive and W. Trinity Place in downtown Decatur for the House the Unhoused Now! protest on Weds. Feb. 9, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.
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Decatur, GA — Activists asking DeKalb County to do more to help the homeless presented a 1,000 signature petition at the Feb. 22 County Commission meeting.

The petition demands the county do more to help the “unhoused” population. Those demands include opening up more warming centers and providing food, water, shelter and wraparound services for the people staying there. The activists also want more wraparound services and 48-hours notice about opening warming centers. They’ve asked the county to provide transportation to the centers and to address the 300 people waiting for a shelter.

The group held a “House the Unhoused Now” protest on Feb. 9. The protest and petitions were organized by the Coalitions for Diverse Decatur/DeKalb, Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, the Justice for All Coalition, and A Home for Everyone in DeKalb. In a press release, these groups say they’ve seen “little progress” from the county.

“Residents in DeKalb County are facing an affordable and accessible housing crisis,” Dr. Sara Patenaude, chair of the Coalition for a Diverse DeKalb, said in a press release. “Not providing enough warming centers to keep people from freezing to death is just one extreme example. This Coalition that has come together around the needs of the unhoused has committed itself to continue working throughout the year to demand the human right to housing for everyone.”

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