As Other Cities Clear Encampments, Atlanta Proves Investing in Housing Works
When cities prepare to host global events, there is usually an unspoken cost paid by the people with the least power to resist it.
Encampments are cleared. Sidewalks are swept. People are pushed out of sight in the name of “public safety,” “clean streets,” and “welcoming visitors.” The pattern is so predictable it barely qualifies as news anymore.
Before the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans, a homeless encampment near the Superdome was cleared, and its residents moved into a warehouse. Before concerts, conventions, and political events across the country, cities rely on the same playbook for displacement.
It has become accepted wisdom that major events require cities to “clean up.”
Atlanta is proving that wisdom wrong.
Atlanta Didn’t Clear People Out. Atlanta Moved People In.
As Atlanta prepares to host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the city is not relying on enforcement-heavy tactics. Instead, more than 170 organizations came together to launch Atlanta Rising, a $212 million coordinated investment into prevention, housing, and outreach.
Atlanta Rising includes:
- $10 million for homelessness prevention and diversion, including rental assistance and legal support, designed to prevent 1,600 families from becoming homeless.
- $190 million invested in housing and services, including 500 new rapid rehousing units, more than 100 units with specialized medical and mental health care, and five years of supportive services at each property.
- $7 million dedicated to downtown safety operations, creating a centralized services hub, expanding outreach teams, and addressing encampments through housing pathways rather than displacement.
The results speak for themselves.
Atlanta Rising houses people in an average of 34 days, compared to the national average of 166 days. 96% of those housed remain stably housed today.
As Cathryn Vassell, CEO of Partners for HOME, which leads the Atlanta Rising campaign, explained:
“Atlanta Rising is not about making homelessness less visible. It’s about ending the crisis humanely, restoring stability, and proving that when a community aligns around housing-first solutions, real transformation is possible.”
She describes the strategy as pairing “urgency with dignity” — a balance most cities never attempt.
The World Cup didn’t cause Atlanta to invest in housing. Housing is what makes Atlanta better prepared for the World Cup. Instead of managing visibility, Atlanta is managing homelessness itself. That distinction is critical.
This Works Because It’s Coordinated, Local, and Systemic
Atlanta Rising is locally funded and locally controlled through private activity bonds, public investment, philanthropy, and cross-sector coordination. While participating organizations receive federal funding for other programs, the initiative itself is city-led.
That matters at a time when many communities feel uncertain about relying on federal housing support.
Atlanta shows what happens when cities treat homelessness as a systems problem instead of a visibility problem. Agencies share data. Landlords are partners. Outreach connects directly to housing pathways. Supportive services are built into the model from the start.
People don’t get pushed out. They get pulled inside.
Finland’s Lesson — and the American Proof
Invisible People’s documentary on Finland showed something many U.S. leaders still struggle to accept: housing people improves entire cities. It improves safety. It improves public health. It improves tourism. It improves the quality of life for everyone.
Atlanta is demonstrating that lesson on American soil. And it’s not alone.
In Hennepin County, Minnesota, the same principles are producing the same outcomes, without the pressure of an international sporting event.
As documented in Invisible People’s documentary America Can End Homelessness: Hennepin County Proves It’s Possible, the county reduced chronic homelessness by aligning prevention, rapid rehousing, landlord partnerships, and supportive services into a coordinated system.
They didn’t need a global spotlight. They needed coordination, investment, and a Housing First mindset. Like Atlanta, Hennepin County treats homelessness as a systems problem to solve, not a public nuisance to move.
This Is What ‘Cleaning Up a City’ Actually Looks Like
Cities often justify sweeps by saying they need to improve public safety, protect tourism, and prepare for visitors. Atlanta and Hennepin County demonstrate that housing people is the most effective way to accomplish all of those goals.
You don’t need to hide homelessness when you reduce it. You don’t need to displace people when you bring them inside. And you don’t need to choose between dignity and public order when evidence-based solutions accomplish both.
A Blueprint Other Cities Should Be Studying
Atlanta Rising offers a roadmap any city can follow:
- Prevent homelessness before it starts
- Coordinate outreach with real housing pathways
- Partner with landlords to shorten move-in time
- Invest in supportive housing capacity
- Treat housing as part of public safety infrastructure
Hennepin County proves this model works in everyday conditions. Atlanta proves it works under the pressure of a global event. Together, they remove the last excuse cities have for relying on encampment sweeps.
Encampment Sweeps Are No Longer a Necessity. They Are a Choice.
For years, cities have argued that displacement is unfortunate but unavoidable before major events.
Atlanta shows that it isn’t true. The most effective way to prepare a city for visitors is the same way to prepare it for residents:
House people. Support people. Keep people housed. And now, we have proof — in Finland, in Minnesota, and in Georgia — that this works.