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- No coordinated system in Fayette County: no housing authority, warming shelter, dedicated nonprofit, or case managers to move people into housing.
- First responders offer referrals or temporary aid but lack shelters or outreach teams; ordinances in Peachtree City restrict sleeping in vehicles.
- Homelessness stays out of sight, living in vehicles, parking lots, or moving around; aid is ad hoc from individuals and outside organizations.
In Fayette County, homelessness is less visible than in neighboring Coweta.
But that visibility may have less to do with the size of the problem — and more to do with where people can go.
Because in Fayette, there is no coordinated system to help them.
There is no housing authority.
No warming shelter during extreme cold.
No nonprofit dedicated specifically to serving the homeless.
No case managers working to move people from the street into stable housing.
For those without a place to stay, the options are limited — and often temporary.
No central response
The City of Fayetteville does not operate housing or homelessness services, according to a statement from the city manager’s office.
“Our response to individuals experiencing homelessness is guided by the specific circumstances that bring them to our attention,” the statement said.
Public safety personnel may offer referrals to outside organizations, but those services are typically located outside Fayette County.
Unlike Coweta, which has multiple nonprofits directly addressing homelessness, Fayette’s resources are indirect — serving broader populations such as low-income families, but not specifically the unhoused.
First responders without a system
For Fayette County Chief Marshal Lem Miller, most encounters with homeless individuals are situational.
“We’ll get calls to do welfare checks,” Miller said. “Somebody’s been sitting on a bench in a park for several hours. We go out, make sure they’re okay.”
If no laws are being broken, there is little enforcement action to take.
“If they’re okay and they’re just sitting, hanging out, there’s no problem with that,” he said.
But parks close at night — and that’s when situations become more difficult.
Miller said there have been instances where individuals attempted to stay overnight in park bathrooms to get out of the weather.
“We’ve had some trouble in the past with them going into the bathrooms and sleeping,” he said.
In those cases, deputies ask them to leave.
“We let them know they’re not allowed to do that,” Miller said.
And beyond that, options are limited.
“We let them know they can’t stay,” he said. “I wish there was a better option for that. But that’s all we’ve got.”
Miller said many individuals they encounter are dealing with mental health challenges, often alongside strained family relationships that leave them without a place to stay.
Peachtree City: fewer encounters, stricter rules
You won’t generally find homeless individuals sleeping overnight in their cars in Peachtree City parking lots.
City ordinances prohibit it.
“We have city ordinances that actually prohibit sleeping in vehicles,” said Lt. Chris Hyatt of the Peachtree City Police Department.
When officers find someone staying overnight in a parking lot, they are typically told to move along.
“Hey, you know, there’s a local ordinance. You can’t be here,” Hyatt said.
The city’s geography also plays a role. Its relative distance from transit corridors limits how often transient individuals arrive.
“The actual geographical location of the city being kind of landlocked provides somewhat of a buffer,” Hyatt said.
When officers do encounter someone experiencing homelessness, the response depends on the situation.
“Sometimes the answer is, ‘I have nowhere else to go,’” he said. “You establish a rapport and see what kind of help you can provide.”
That help may include food, clothing, temporary lodging or transportation to areas with more services.
When help is possible
In rare cases, intervention can change the trajectory.
Hyatt recalled a 2015 case involving a family of six living out of an SUV in Peachtree City.
“They were utilizing the Wi-Fi of the library to help continue their four children’s education,” he said.
Officers coordinated assistance — securing a hotel stay, cleaning the family’s vehicle, providing clothing and connecting them with local resources.
A church later offered temporary housing, and the father found employment.
“I still stay in touch with that family to this day,” Hyatt said. “They’ve been able to get back on their feet.”
But those outcomes depend on available connections — and willingness to accept help.
Living in the margins
For others, the reality is more uncertain.
A Fayette County woman, who asked not to be fully identified and is referred to here as Susan, said she regularly sees people arriving overnight in the grocery store parking lot where she lives in her vehicle.
“They come in late at night just to sleep,” she said. “Then they’re gone in the morning.”
She described a quiet but consistent presence — people with cars, staying where they are less likely to be noticed.
And when temperatures drop, options grow even more limited.
“There’s nowhere to go,” she said. “Not even the churches are open.”
An invisible population
Fayette officials say they do not encounter homelessness in large numbers.
The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office indicated it rarely sees it in unincorporated areas.
But those assessments reflect what is visible — not necessarily what exists.
Without shelters, services or designated support systems, homelessness in Fayette often remains out of sight:
- in vehicles
- in parking lots
- moving from place to place
No safety net — but a willing community
Unlike Coweta County, where organizations can provide emergency supplies, temporary shelter or pathways to housing, Fayette has no equivalent infrastructure.
There are no local facilities offering showers.
No dedicated outreach teams.
No centralized intake system.
Support, when it happens, is informal — dependent on individual officers, community goodwill or organizations outside the county.
After The Citizen’s initial coverage of homelessness in Fayette, one local gym owner reached out to offer help to “Susan,” the woman living in her car who was featured in the story. He offered access to showers and even a place to sleep during extreme cold.
It is the kind of response that reflects a broader truth: many in the community want to help.
But even generous, individual efforts have limits.
A single business cannot function as a shelter for a wider population, and in many cases, may face legal or liability concerns in trying to do so.
Without a coordinated system — or places designed and equipped to meet those needs — help remains one person at a time.
A different kind of problem
The result is a quieter form of homelessness — one that is less visible, but no less real.
In Fayette County, the issue is not just who is homeless.
It is where they can go.
And right now, there are few answers.
View Part 1 of this series, Homelessness Hides in Plain Sight in Fayette
View Part 2 of this series, Coweta’s Safety Net Strains Under Growing Homelessness.
View Part 3 of this series, Coweta First Responders See it First—But Can’t Solve It Alone
Read the full article on the original site
