Homeless encampments down across Savannah, new report shows

by Mackenzie Baker

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - There are much fewer homeless encampments in Savannah compared to a few years ago.

Chatham Savannah Authority for the Homeless released new data Thursday morning.

The Point-In-Time Count is a federally required snapshot of homelessness conducted on a single night each January. It includes individuals in shelters, transitional housing and unsheltered locations.

CSAH CEO Jennifer Dulong said this trend data helps evaluate how systems designed to move people out of homelessness are working. It also informs funding decisions.

According to this year’s PIT data, unsheltered homelessness decreased. The number of visible encampments since 2023 was reduced by 83%, and access to shelter, services and housing increased in the community.

“What our community has done is not stand still. It’s truly invested in strategic initiatives that are reducing street homelessness; that are helping our shelter systems improve and allow access for people,” Dulong said.

The Savannah-Chatham County Interagency Council on Homelessness created a five-year strategic plan in 2024. CSAH data helped shape the plan, which Dulong said is only successful when local government, businesses, nonprofits and community stakeholders work together.

“Everything that we’ve developed over the last several years, and everything now that the community is developing, really is structured around supporting a system response, looking at the data—diving deep in the data, getting honest about what’s working, getting honest about what’s not working,” Dulong said.

Last year, CSAH’s Street Outreach Teams served more than 2,600 people experiencing homelessness.