Debt Threatens Atlanta’s Biggest Homeless Shelter

Atlanta’s largest shelter for the homeless has been foreclosed and faces eviction after running up $900,000 in debt, NPR reports.

The downtown Peachtree-Pine Shelter houses up to 400 people a night in summer and 600 in winter, but it lacks hot water, air-conditioning, and operable kitchen facilities. Its owner, the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, has lost major donors in recent years.

Neighbors of the shelter say it feeds petty crime in the city’s business district. Anita Beaty, the task force’s longtime head, claims city and business leaders have worked together to squeeze shelter funds to eliminate the presence of homeless black men from downtown streets.

Protip Biswas, of the Atlanta United Way, says warehouse-style shelters such as Peachtree-Pine should give way to programs that tie shelter beds to social services but that this “case management” approach is costly.