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The Need

The number of people experiencing homelessness has grown rapidly across the country, and Chattanooga is no exception. The cost of housing skyrocketed during the pandemic, and wages did not keep pace. This meant many residents could no longer afford to stay in their homes.

While the Kelly administration has housed more residents experiencing homelessness than ever before - nearly 3,000 since taking office - there simply aren’t enough affordable housing units to support the number of people in need. And studies show that the longer someone has been homeless, the more services they will need to adjust and reacclimate.

That’s why the development of permanent supportive housing units is so important for Chattanooga. Permanent supportive housing combines housing units with supportive services onsite to help people experiencing homelessness recover, stabilize, and re-integrate into the community. And it works - in Hamilton County alone, 97 percent of people who moved into permanent supportive housing over the last year are still housed.

The conversion of the old Airport Inn will provide 70 of these units for Chattanoogans in need.

Housing Action Plan

The housing crisis in Chattanooga is pervasive and well-documented. Chattanooga’s Housing Action Plan, a bold and comprehensive evaluation of the city’s housing market, establishes the need for better housing solutions to address the projected 7,000+ unit deficit of affordable housing choices by 2030. By building more permanent supportive housing options, the City of Chattanooga can make incremental progress toward making homelessness rare, brief, and one-time.