Following the fires under Cheshire Bridge Road, 11 Alive News profiled “The Hill” and the at least 50 people are living up in the woods just off the highway.
The people who live there and the people trying to help say they know the fires are frustrating– but say they’re just the sign of a bigger problem in the city.
Tracy Thompson hikes up to the Hill every week.
She says she goes because it’s a road she’s walked as well when she was homeless in 2014.
“I said, I heard this was a shelter, can you help me? And they said no,” she said of her experience trying to find help.
She says it’s complicated and frustrating to be homeless in Atlanta.
Tracy started the Elizabeth foundation to try and help people in Atlanta get connected to services that can lift them out of homelessness but she says there are a lot of barriers in place for people who live off the grid.
“They’re doing a lot of mental health zoom services, but how do you get services if you don’t have a phone? If you’re not getting services, how do you get your medication? How do you become stabilized when you’re homeless. How do you get to your appointments,” she said.