Anniston city officials are asking for donations that they can distribute to area homeless persons during an upcoming count of that population in Calhoun and Etowah counties.
Known as a “point-in-time” count, the annual tally is mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the data being helpful toward determining the need for future funding and services.
Anniston Public Information Officer Jackson Hodges said trained volunteers will be surveying area homeless and will be giving out care bags to persons in that situation.
Hodges said the goal is to fill 250 bags with the following items:
- Pop-top canned food items (ravioli, pasta, chili, fruit cups, etc.)
- Chemical-based hand-warming pouches
- Gloves
- Toboggans
- Disposable ponchos/rain jackets
- Baby wipes, sanitizing wipes (no liquids)
- Toothpaste
Donations should be dropped off before Wednesday, Jan. 19, at one of the following locations:
— Carver Community Center
720 W. 14th St. Anniston, Al. 36206
Monday-Friday: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
— United Way of East Central Alabama
1505 Wilmer Ave. Anniston, Al. 36201
Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Homelessness on the rise locally
Renee Baker, a board member with the Homeless Coalition of Northeast Alabama, said volunteers from Jacksonville State University, United Way, The Right Place and the City of Anniston’s homeless task force will canvass the area Jan. 26 to get a count of area homeless. The coalition serves Calhoun, Dekalb, Cherokee and Etowah counties and offers a single, coordinated, inclusive homeless assistance system.
During last year’s homeless count, Baker said, there were a total of 457 unsheltered people counted — 251 unsheltered in Gadsden and 216 unsheltered in Anniston. A total of 57 homeless were counted as sheltered in the four-county region the homeless coalition serves.
The count did not include individuals who were in actual shelters that night, Baker said.
Baker said the description “unsheltered” applies to someone who was found literally outdoors in the elements or in an abandoned structure, such as a home, that does not have any utilities.
“HUD considers that unsheltered because if you don’t have utilities, running water, power, things of that nature, that’s considered uninhabitable or habitable for humans, they do consider that unsheltered,” Baker said.
Baker said the number of homeless in the area is rising dramatically.
“It greatly increased last year, I mean greatly, it was a massive increase, we anticipate it being larger this year,” she said.
Baker said that many people lost their jobs due to COVID.
“It’s just been devastating, people that have never been homeless before are homeless,” Baker said.
“All the agencies are getting calls, there’s just not enough funds to go around to assist, there’s not enough affordable housing to place people in, it’s just been a culmination of things, and that just kinda topped it off, so to speak, that was kinda the final straw, COVID hitting,” Baker said.
Baker said there’ve been people living with family members who died of COVID, resulting in those people being forced onto the streets and adding to the homeless population.
Baker expects the upcoming homeless count to be greater than last year due to the high number of calls that have been reporting homeless individuals from different agencies.
“We do anticipate it to be worse this year,” she said.
