GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A new Gwinnett County task force is setting out to find real answers to homelessness, as more and more residents end up without a place to call home.
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The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved the 10-member group this month. The members will meet every month to figure out where help is falling short, hear from the public, and look at what has worked in other communities.
Tami Wilder runs the Safe Place program at Positive Impact International, a shelter effort for children in crisis. She has a seat on the task force, and she said the need often hides where people are not looking.
“We have a lot of kids that are sleeping on benches,” Wilder said. “They come out when it’s dark.”
Last year, the county counted at least 375 people experiencing homelessness, a number Wilder said is climbing as the population passes a million.
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Wilder said the people falling through the cracks are not who most residents picture. Some are seniors who can no longer afford the homes they have lived in for years. Others are young people who need more support than the county can offer.
“Some of our neurodivergent youth, people that have autism, developmental delays, we don’t have enough resources for them,” she said.
Board Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson said the work demands more than sympathy.
“Homelessness requires both compassion and coordination, and this task force will bring together the people and the organizations already doing this work,” Hendrickson said.
For Wilder, the table itself is the breakthrough.
“This is the first time that I’ve actually felt like, OK, people are listening,” she said.
The county expects to name the task force members and set the first meeting in the coming weeks.
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