Why it matters:

Many individuals and families in metro Atlanta lack adequate food, shelter, medical care and emergency assistance. A strong, safe community cares for those in need of life's basic necessities.

United Way response:

United Way invests in programs that provide shelter, supportive services for the physically challenged, emergency financial assistance, substance abuse treatment, emergency food, disaster relief and health care. United Way 211, an information and referral service, connects people needing help - or those wanting to help others - with resources in metro Atlanta.

2004-05 investment :	$10,193,596
Emergency services	$5,762,086
Health	$3,303,094
Older adults/disabilities	$1,128,416

Some results:

	A commission was formed to address the issue of homeless. 29 projects were recommended to the Mayor. Since March 2003 Fulton, Cobb, Clayton and DeKalb counties have joined the City of Atlanta as members of the Commission on Homeless.
	A new 24-hour homeless services center will open and serve more than 300 people a day, as part of a movement to end chronic homelessness in the metro area in ten years.
	318,226 people are finding or giving help through United Way 2-1-1 and 2-1-1 online (For more information please visit www.uw211.org)

Did you know.

Women and children are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population; children make up 43 percent of Atlanta's homeless population. (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)

Approximately 2.36 million Georgia residents under 65 years of age – almost one out of three – were uninsured at sometime in 2001-2002.

Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital, the state's largest public hospital, has had a 15 percent increase in the number of uninsured patients in the last year

The number of homes in Atlanta facing foreclosure hit an all-time high in February of 2003; nearly 3,000 homes were foreclosed upon in that month alone.

Georgia lost 62,000 jobs in 2001—the second worst jobs loss among the 50 states.