ATLANTA — Cheers erupted on Baker Street as runners broke a sweat in the February chill.
City streets are a great place for a run or a very brisk walk. They’re a great place for celebrating and taking selfies at the finish line. However, they’re a hard, cold place to lay one’s head.
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And yet, there are people in metro Atlanta who do sleep on the streets, or in cars, or wherever they can.
“On any given night, there are probably 2,000-plus people experiencing homelessness in our city,” said Tensley Almand, the chief executive officer of Atlanta Mission, which provides services such as shelter, meals and job training for the homeless.
It has four campus shelters in metro Atlanta and northeast Georgia serving about 3,000 men, women and children a year.
On Saturday, about 2,300 people ran and walked in the annual 5K Race to End Homelessness, raising about $103,000 for Atlanta Mission.
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Mark Panu ran the race for his second year. Thinking about the plight of the city’s homeless helped propel him to the finish line.
“It’s a good reminder of the privilege that we have coming out here in February in the cold and suffering a little bit when others do a lot more,” he said. “There’s so much struggle in the world. If we can do a little part to help, why not?”
This was Morgan Montgomery’s first road race. She sees the people sleeping on the streets and wants to do something to empower them.
“I mean, I just hope that we can kind of help the homeless here in Atlanta, and it gets less and less here in Atlanta, because it’s a lot,” she said.
Here’s how Atlanta Mission empowers its clients: “Try to identify what are their core traumas?” Almand said. “What are the root causes of their homelessness? And then how do we create a plan for you that puts you on a pathway to self-sufficiency?”
He said 70% of the people who graduate from the program maintain their jobs and housing a year later.
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Catherine Bladow appreciates the atmosphere of the race and enthusiasm for an important cause.
“Tons of energy. Everybody’s upbeat,” she said. “It’s like if we all could do more, I’ll support it. It’s fantastic.”
Channel 2’s Bryan Mims asked Almand if he thinks there could ever be an end to homelessness.
“I do,” he said. “I certainly think we can end it one person at a time, that’s for sure.”
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