‘Atlanta Rising’ Has Helped Hundreds Move Into Housing, Yet Rising Rents and Evictions Threaten to Outpace Progress
Atlanta’s more than $200 million plan to reduce homelessness has seen early successes, but upstream risks remain that still need to be addressed.
The plan, known as “Atlanta Rising,” is a more than $212 million investment in critical infrastructure and services needed to address unsheltered homelessness in the city. It was built on evidence-based housing-first principles and includes collaboration between local governments, nonprofits, and service providers.
For example, Atlanta Rising allocated $137 million to upgrade the city’s housing infrastructure by adding 500 new rapid rehousing units that include on-site property management and supportive services. It also invests $57.5 million to create more than 100 housing units for people with specialized medical needs and creates systems to return people to permanent housing at a cost of roughly $25,000 per household.
Altogether, the efforts helped rehome more than 400 people experiencing homelessness in Atlanta, according to figures from the city’s Continuum of Care, Partners for HOME. That total accounts for roughly 14% of the 2,849 people experiencing homelessness identified in Atlanta’s 2025 Point in Time Count.
Early Results Show Real Impact for People Exiting Homelessness
Some people who were homeless say Atlanta Rising has given them hope. Ron Vickers, a former home repair professional, recently told Community Solutions in an interview that getting into a permanent housing unit through the program helped him reestablish roots in the community he calls home.
“I have a place to live now,” Vickers said. “My refrigerator and my house are straight, and I like that. I don’t have to worry about running to the store. I got everything I need now.”
Annie Hyrila, the chief programs coordinator for Partners for HOME, told CBS News that part of the success of Atlanta Rising comes from the strong partnership between participating organizations.
“Our hope is to continue to do this for years and years,” Hyrila said. “This is one piece that we’re working on to reduce unsheltered homelessness, but our goal is truly to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring throughout the entire city of Atlanta.”
Gains Are Real, But Homelessness Is Still Rising in Key Areas
“Atlanta Rising” was launched as Atlanta made significant strides to reduce chronic homelessness among hard-to-reach populations. For instance, the city recorded a 9% decrease in chronic homelessness in 2025, as well as a 25% decrease in adults with serious mental illness and a 30% decrease in the number of people who are homeless with a substance use disorder.
But there are still some issues to address when it comes to ending homelessness in Atlanta. For instance, the PIT count showed that unsheltered and family homelessness are both rising in the city. Unsheltered homelessness increased by 2% in Atlanta between 2024 and 2025, while family homelessness increased by 14%, according to the data.
Unsheltered and family homelessness are often driven by the rising cost of living, and Atlanta’s has been rising rapidly. The Zillow Index, which the Atlanta Regional Commission uses to track changes in rent, found that some areas of the city have seen median rents increase between 60% and 100% over the last decade. For instance, the median rent in Fulton County has increased from $1,054 in 2015 to $1,891 as of October 2025.
A study conducted by the Government Accountability Office in 2020 found that every $100 increase in median rents correlates with a 9% increase in local rates of homelessness.
Rising Rents Continue to Push More People Into Housing Instability
Meanwhile, data from Princeton University’s Eviction Lab shows that the Atlanta metro area has become one of the nation’s leading cities for evictions, which threatens to increase the number of people experiencing homelessness.
The Eviction Lab found that more than 144,000 evictions have been filed in the Atlanta metro area over the last 12 months, including more than 12,000 in just the last 30 days.
Studies have shown that evictions are a public health issue and can lead to increasing rates of sheltered homelessness. For example, a study from The Ohio State University found that evictions in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in Detroit caused Black mothers to face a 68% higher risk of premature birth because of the stress caused by the event. A follow-up study found evictions can make entire neighborhoods less safe and healthy by leaving some homes vacant or damaged.
Another study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania found that increasing eviction rates are correlated with rising rates of sheltered homelessness. That may explain why Atlanta’s homeless population has continued to rise even though the city has invested heavily in affordable housing and homeless services.
Tenants and advocates say Georgia’s landlord-friendly laws are contributing to the trend. Craig Goodmark, director of advocacy at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, told Capital B Atlanta in January that a lot of the issues stem from communication breakdowns between landlords and tenants, which can escalate into evictions.
“We do see quite a bit of this type of conflict that arises out of communication breakdown,” Goodmark told the outlet. “This seems to be a situation where the landlord and the tenant have not communicated effectively, and now it’s caused the matter to escalate in a way where there’s now a dispossessory, which we do see a lot.”
Evictions Threaten to Undermine Progress Across the Region
Now is not the time to be silent about homelessness in the United States or anywhere else. Unhoused people deserve safe, sanitary housing just as much as those who can afford rent or a mortgage.
Poverty and homelessness are both policy choices, not personal failures. That’s why we need you to contact your officials and tell them you support legislation that:
- Streamlines the development of affordable housing
- Reduces barriers for people experiencing homelessness to enter permanent housing
- Bolsters government response to homelessness
Together, we can end homelessness.
