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Bibb commissioner asks for census of homeless population for COVID relief fund spending purposes

Commissioner Virgil Watkins is proposing using up to $250,000 in American Rescue Plan money to send out social workers to do a survey

MACON, Ga. — How many homeless people call Macon home? That's what a Bibb County Commissioner wants to try to answer with up to a $250,000 survey. 

It was tabled last meeting, but county leaders are expected to discuss it further Tuesday morning.

Commissioner Virgil Watkins says he believes the homeless population in Macon could be more than what the county and state estimates, but Watkins says they need a more in-depth study to find out for sure.

"Most people only think of the 5, 6 people you see downtown. We're living in a city where really a third of our population according to the census is living below the poverty line," Watkins said. 

Watkins says each year the state does a simple count on how many beds are filled in shelters across the county, but he says they need a more accurate count. 

"But getting more in-depth into the who, the why, the where," Watkins said. 

So Watkins is proposing using $250,000 in American Rescue Plan money to send out social workers to do a survey.

Watkins says he wants the study to focus on the circumstances of those living on the street. 

"Whether or not people are veterans, whether they have mental illnesses, where do they stay if they're not in the bed," Watkins said. 

Are they literate or illiterate? Do they wish to stay homeless, or do they want to work toward having a place of their own? Those are just some questions Watkins says he wants this survey to answer.

"But actually, the spending time, the good clean data, collected on the issue. In a way we haven't done in the past. I think that would just be helpful to the county on their decision making and policy making at large who is trying to provide assistance to hopefully eradicate homelessness," Watkins said. 

Watkins says he also wants to see a better breakdown on demographics--including how much of the homeless population is made up of families, children, or single men and women.

Right now, Watkins say the Brookdale Warming Center mostly houses families.

He says more data will help leaders develop a more targeted approach.

"You start taking chops at it like that breaking down subgroups like that so you're left with the hardest problem which is young men with mental illnesses," Watkins said. 

Watkins says if this passes, he wants the survey to happen within the next 90 days.

Several commissioners seem to be on board with the census itself, but some question the cost.

A 2017 report from the state Department of Community Affairs found Macon had one of the highest homeless population in the state of Georgia.

The report counted 310 total homeless persons in Bibb County, 174 of which were classified as "unsheltered homeless," or not staying at a shelter. 

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