The Governor's Statewide Interagency Council on Homelessness

In Alabama, the principal administrators of homelessness services and planning are regional coalitions of Continuum of Care. Having a Continuum of Care is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in order to be eligible to receive grants targeted for the homeless. HUD believes the best approach for alleviating homelessness is through a community-based process that provides a comprehensive response to the different needs of homeless individuals and families. As HUD is the largest provider of grants for the sheltering of the homeless, the HUD definition of what comprises a homeless individual or family is what is commonly used. For the definitions, please refer to the Homelessness Definitions page of our website.

As part of HUD funding guidelines, each Continuum of Care is required to conduct a point in time survey of their local homeless population every two years. Using the data from the point in time surveys over the past two years, estimates of the number of people who are homeless in Alabama on a given night range between 5,000 and 8,000.

The primary source of funding in Alabama are HUD grants to the Continua of Care. For Fiscal Year 2005 the State of Alabama received $12,095,259.00 in Homeless Assistance Awards with an additional $2,141,595.00 in Emergency Shelter Grants.

Part of the efforts of the Governor’s Statewide Interagency Council on Homelessness is an extensive mapping of funding, services, and additional ways to count homelessness populations. This process is currently underway.

The counties in Alabama directly affected by Hurricane Katrina saw dramatic increases in homelessness populations. According to the Mobile-Baldwin Continuum of Care for the Homeless Point in Time Count of the Homeless of January 26, 2006 Mobile and Baldwin County saw a 72% increase in the number of homeless between January, 2005 and January, 2006. There was also a 27% increase in the total number of unsheltered homeless between the same years. The increased rates of homelessness can be directly attributed to the natural disasters of 2005 on the Gulf Coast. Before the hurricanes, Mobile and Baldwin County were seeing a gradual decline in the number of homeless.

The effects on homelessness in Alabama from the hurricanes can also be seen in other parts of the state. For example, in Tuscaloosa County the 2006 Homeless Needs Survey Results found that 29 of the 129 homeless surveyed, or 22%, relocated to Tuscaloosa from an area affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita. After the point-in-time surveys were conducted in Alabama in January 2006, FEMA began a gradual phase-out of the motel/hotel voucher program for evacuees of the hurricanes. In Mobile and Baldwin County alone, during the point-in-time survey of 2006, there were a total of 1,237 rooms being used as part of the motel/hotel voucher program. People in FEMA trailers or taking part in the motel/hotel voucher programs were not considered homeless by HUD definitions for the purpose of the point-in-time survey and therefore were not included in the homeless count.