Strategies to combat homelessness on Newnan’s agenda | News

“(Homelessness is) a very heavy topic, a very serious topic, a topic that impacts all of us, and specifically the downtown area,” Ellison said.

Ellison, who had 15 years experience working with the homeless in downtown Atlanta, suggested the think tank and with the blessing of the city, began “to work on how can we in a healthy way, make a dent in this issue, he said.

The think tank consulted with Jack Griffin, who had extensive knowledge with the issue of homelessness, Ellison said.

“In July of 2023, working under the umbrella of the Coweta (Community) Foundation, we launched Restart Coweta,” Ellison said. “The vision that we came up with for Restart Coweta is simply this, Ending homelessness in our community, one family at a time.”

The basic strategy is to assess those who are homeless and then partner with other nonprofits that are already working with the homeless to help them, he said.

The plan is based on a similar nonprofit serving the homeless in Lakeland, Florida, Ellison said. Lakeland is larger than Newnan, but Newnan is on the same path of growth that Lakeland took, he said.

“It’s probably about 10 years ahead of where we are regarding commerce and regarding population,” Ellison said. “That’s the reason that he coached us in that area.”

Restart Coweta has already started implementing some of the strategies in the business plan through the warming center. Ellison read nine first names of people…