BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Birmingham city leaders have set out to shrink chronic homelessness 40% within two years, a target they laid out Friday, Nov. 6, at the city’s State of Homelessness Summit.
That target is aimed at residents who have gone unhoused for a year or longer while living with a diagnosed mental or physical illness. Alanah Melton, who leads the city’s unhoused strategies work, put that group at about 500 people, so hitting the target means moving roughly 200 of them into housing.
The city is putting $3 million toward the effort. Mayor Randall Woodfin has directed that every dollar tie back to housing, directly or indirectly. The money supports street outreach, mental health care, social workers and case managers, an outdoor day shelter and a smaller amount for prevention.
Melton said the city wants 500 more beds in the system within two years. The Home for All program can hold 100 people now, and the Jimmie Hale Mission expects to add 100 emergency beds by this time next year.
A new effort called Birmingham Goes Home will shape how the city handles encampments, with the aim of having housing ready before a camp is cleared. Police have already worked with the city through the HOPE program to move at least one camp, at Underwood Park. On Wednesday, the City Council’s Committee of the Whole approved an encampment ordinance that now heads to the full council.
University of Alabama at Birmingham estimates put the number of people homeless in the city on any given night near 1,100, including 474 veterans and more than 200 minors. Birmingham City Schools counted 777 homeless students at the end of last school year.
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