THE UNITED WAY
REGIONAL COMMISSION ON
HOMELESSNESS

The United Way Regional Commission on Homelessness is a collective effort of the City of Atlanta and 7 metro counties to end chronic homelessness in metro Atlanta.

A chronically homelessness individual is defined as a person with a disability who has either been homeless for more than a year, or has had at least 4 episodes of homelessness in the past 3 years. The disability that results in homelessness may be mental, physical, or addiction-related.

History

In 2002 Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin asked the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta to study the issue of homelessness in the city, and make recommendations on how to make substantive progress in moving chronically homeless individuals into permanent housing. The result was the Blueprint to End Homelessness in Atlanta in Ten Years.

A major Blueprint recommendation was to establish a central point of care in metro Atlanta to meet the needs of the homeless in a systematic and supportive manner. To that end, the Commission oversaw the development of the Gateway Center, a self-managed 501(c)(3) organization that opened in 2005 as the primary portal in a continuum of care for metro Atlanta’s chronically homeless individuals.

The United Way Regional Commission on Homelessness remains the core partner of the Gateway Center, which is one of the largest providers of homeless services in the Southeast and has been recognized as a national best practice in the area of community collaboration.

More than 50 agencies, departments, faith groups, businesses, academic centers, and service entities support the Gateway Center and the United Way Regional Commission on Homelessness.

For more information on the United Way Regional Commission on Homelessness, please visit: United Way Atlanta - Homelessness