Tag: homeless

When he was suspected of starting the fire that collapsed a portion of I-85 in Atlanta, Basil Eleby—a homeless man who grew up without a family and struggled with addiction—was facing felony charges that would put him in jail until he was in his sixties. But one year after the fire, Eleby is on the path to recovery, thanks to the help of the Atlanta community.

Although Atlanta’s largest homeless shelter is scheduled to change hands at the end of August, it will remain open for at least another month until its residents have been placed in other facilities and housing programs. That’s the first message that Jack Hardin, co-chairman of the Regional Commission on Homelessness, wants people to know.

On a Monday in June, 25 years ago, activists broke into the vacant Imperial Hotel, made their way to the highest floor, and lowered a massive sign emblazoned with the directive: “House the Homeless Here.” Soon the encampment inside the historic hotel numbered 100 protesters.