LaFayette addressing the growing homeless problem
After a fairly routine LaFayette council meeting Monday night (Feb. 11) during which more than 40 Honeybee Festival sponsors were honored, the mood turned somber when a letter from the Georgia Department of Public Health was shared noting that the number of Hepatitis A cases in the city had skyrocketed from one to 40.
Hepatitis A is often spread through intravenous drug use, especially among the homeless, explained the letter, and LaFayette has seen its homeless population soar from two about a year or so ago to an estimated 40-50 individuals currently, Mayor Andy Arnold said.
Small homeless “camps” have sprung up in several sections of town, including a camp under a South Main Street bridge where officials found numerous needles.
Arnold and others present stressed that the problem was not one of and caused by “local” homeless individuals. The mayor said that just a year ago he knew all four of the city’s homeless residents by name, but that news had spread by mouth and by text that LaFayette was and is a safe haven for the homeless. And so they came … and come, Arnold said.
Therefore, to combat the spread of Hepatitis A, the CDC is scheduling a visit, bringing 70 initial vaccinations, and will work with city police and EMS to reach and inoculate as many homeless as possible, especially around a local church ministry which serves area residents, including the homeless, appropriately — and ironically — called The Haven.
But what concerns the officials and families of LaFayette is not just or primarily the spread of Hepatitis A. What concerns officials, it was repeatedly voiced at the council meeting, is an influx and presence of strangers around town, using drugs, begging and harassing residents in stores and on the city’s streets and parking lots. Councilman Chris Davis clearly expressed the consensus of those present Monday night: “The city of LaFayette is not a homeless shelter,” he said.
Nearly every section of town has noted an increased presence of the homeless, an increase in people whom residents don’t recognize, and an increase in their movement, especially up and down the streets