Atlanta Is Among Nation's Neediest Cities: Report

ATLANTA, GA — In a holiday season during which many of our hearts turn to giving, a new report reminds us of the harsh reality many of those around us are facing. Atlanta was ranked No. 6 on a list of the neediest cities in the United States.

Personal-finance website WalletHub compiled the list of more than 180 U.S. cities, weighing 25 factors to determine where Americans are most economically disadvantaged.

Detroit was No. 1 on the list, followed by Cleveland, Newark, New Jersey, Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi.

The site's rankings are based on two primary dimensions: economic well-being and health and safety. Under economic well-being, cities were scored based on adult and child poverty rates, unemployment and underemployment rates, homelessness, and foreclosure and consumer bankruptcy rates, among other factors.

Under health and safety, the site factored in suicide and crime rates, the number of over-crowded homes and the number of inadequate kitchens and plumbing in homes, among other factors.

Pushing Atlanta toward the top of the list was its homelessness rate. According to WalletHub, Atlanta was No. 1 among the cities it examined in homelessness. The city also ranked No. 15 in food-insecurity rate and 24th in child-poverty rate.

Combatting the homelessness problem has been a focus of leaders in Atlanta. Last month, Mayor Kasim Reed announced the city has "effectively ended" homelessness among military veterans in the city.

Reed said the achievement was recently confirmed by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Reed's announcement came three years after he joined other city leaders around the state in accepting former President Barack Obama's challenge to stamp out veteran homelessness by 2015. Through last month, a partnership of local and federal efforts had placed 1,859 veterans experiencing homelessness into permanent housing.

The Atlanta City Council earlier this year voted to issue a $26 million Homeless Opportunity Bond to be matched by $25 million donation from United Way of Greater Atlanta. This roughly $50 million initiative was designed to make homelessness "rare, brief and non-recurring" in the city. The council also authorized the adoption of ClearPath – Partners for HOME's five-year strategic plan focused on permanent housing placements for all individuals experiencing homelessness.

In January, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs estimated there were 10,373 homeless people in the state, down from 13,790 in 2015.

An earlier WalletHub report offers additional hope for local folks in need. According to the Georgia ranked No. 29 overall for the amount of volunteering and service done by residents, and was ranked No. 2 for charitable giving.

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