Our Invisible Neighbors 2019 Report

This report emerged from an assessment conducted by a team of nonprofits, corporate partners, academics, spiritual leaders and their stakeholders. Independently, and collectively, we recognized a rise in people seeking services. Most notably was an increase temporary housing arrangements following evictions and foreclosures. We realized that our collective capacity couldn’t keep up with demand. We needed to find ways engage the broader North Fulton community in a response strategy.

The North Fulton Poverty Task Force was formed in 2014. Several critical actions emerged from this leadership team. Most notably, the Task Force determined that it was critical to establish a benchmark to identify whether the discoveries in North Fulton were anomalies or are factors underpinning this shift a potential threat to the labor market and familial stability or our community. Efforts included outreach to various national agencies whose work was professionally and scientifically confirmed and could serve as a credible sources to examine the shifts in our dynamics in North Fulton.

The report that follows demonstrates that the anecdotal information first seen by independent agencies and policy makers was in fact reality and widespread. What emerged is a series of drivers that impact the creation of financial vulnerability leading to temporary housing solutions and in some cases, to homelessness. Through an economic lens, this is concerning as these residents are our employees, our neighbors and the children attend schools with ours. While NO direct solutions are advanced, this purposeful approach articulates the data discovered and presents a case for rational consideration.