Accomplishments
The 18 team members who make up the City’s Office of Homelessness and Supportive Housing continue to work around the clock to address the unprecedented rise in homelessness that began at the beginning of the pandemic. Despite a more than 170% increase in homelessness in the past year alone, the OHSH team has housed more people than ever before - and continues to increase its capacity to support the homeless community.
Since Mayor Tim Kelly took office in April 2021, the City and its partners have:
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Housed more than 2000 people experiencing homelessness |
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Prevented more than 122 households from entering into homelessness as a result of the Budgetel closing |
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Launched a new temporary sanctioned encampment to provide up to 50 residents experiencing homelessness a safe, secure place to camp while working with outreach specialists to find a permanent home |
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Increased service coordination community-wide through an $860,000 contract with Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition. As a part of the contract, the City and partners are working to centralize service tracking by leveraging existing data to fill service gaps and reduce overlap. |
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Increased the number of agencies referring families to OHSH, including Hamilton County Schools, Partnership’s domestic Violence shelter, Erlanger Children’s Hospital, Maclellan Family Shelter, and the Downtown Alliance |
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Created a partners landlord association and mitigation fund to increase the number of partner landlords to over 150 |
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Increased the partnership between the homeless response system and Chattanooga Police Department to arrest violent offenders and better collaborate with people displaced from encampments |
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Joined the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition's Regional Outreach Collaborative (ROC) to better coordinate outreach services |
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Committed $2.8 million in American Rescue Plan dollars for construction of a new low-barrier shelter |
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Launched an eviction prevention initiative that helped keep 440 people (including 220 children) from being evicted. |
Spotlight from the Field
| Parker’s Story - A Place to Call Home! |
| Parker aged out of Foster Care and was kicked out of his guardian’s house as soon as he turned 18. He had nowhere to live. A groundskeeper found Parker sleeping underneath a park bench by a baseball field. This set into motion a series of life-changing events for Parker. The groundskeeper contacted a City Council Member, who then called on the help of the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition (CRHC) and Sam Wolfe, the Director of the Office of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (OHSH). The CRHC paid for Parker to stay at a hotel until permanent housing could be arranged, and Sam Wolfe personally brought Parker a pizza for his first night. Different community service providers helped out with food gift cards until OHSH helped Parker apply and receive SNAP benefits. In under two months, Service Coordinator Ryan Loyd and Housing Navigator Johnetta Langston with OHSH housed Parker at an apartment complex. The apartment property manager went above and beyond her duties and got Parker’s apartment fully furnished before he moved in. What’s even more incredible, the apartment property manager and her assistant also filled Parker’s refrigerator with food and his closet with clothes. Now with a place to call home, Parker no longer has to worry about where he’s going to sleep at night. He is now focusing on getting his GED and working hard at gaining stable employment. Parker’s story is a wonderful example of Chattanoogans coming together and taking care of one their own. |
Office of Homelessness and Supportive Housing
1001 Lindsey Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402(map)
Email: Homeless@chattanooga.gov