ATLANTA (AP) – With the World Cup set to kick off across North America, some host cities have been using the 39-day soccer spectacular as a catalyst to address homelessness.
Among them is Atlanta, which last summer announced an ambitious plan to end encampments and other street sleeping downtown ahead of the tournament. Called Downtown Rising, the program said it has housed nearly 500 people. Yet, the persistent sight of individuals waiting outside downtown shelters serves as a visceral reminder that the efforts have not reached everyone.
Dallas and Seattle have also launched targeted initiatives, with Dallas expanding an effort to house homeless people living downtown, and Seattle announcing a housing push to secure housing for hundreds of people.
However, a survey by The Associated Press found that most of the 16 host cities, including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Houston, Toronto, and Vancouver, British Columbia, are relying on existing programs – most without any new funding tied to the World Cup – to address homelessness.
In the past, many cities have treated the homeless as an eyesore to be removed ahead of big sporting and political events.
“These events provide a choice for communities,” said Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. “They can do the easy thing and sweep people out of encampments and into jails or other neighborhoods, or they can do the harder work that will benefit everyone in the community – housed or unhoused.”
Here are highlights from the AP’s reporting:
Atlanta has raised $185 million in state and city funding, as well as corporate grants and other donations, toward a goal of $235 million, with the aim of housing 3,900 people citywide by next year. While the program has helped hundreds of people secure housing, others remain skeptical that it’s made a significant impact on downtown’s homelessness problem.
In Dallas, a $30 million campaign since 2024 reduced the number of people sleeping on downtown streets by 87% and placed some 2,000 into permanent housing. But advocates have criticized police tactics that included zip-tying and removing people who refused to leave after their encampments were cleared.
Workers in Seattle have been putting the final touches on 75 tiny homes featuring beds, space heaters and air conditioners, scheduled to open just before the World Cup. But that housing falls far short of Mayor Katie Wilson’s ambitious plan to open 500 units of new shelter by the start of the World Cup. One homeless man camped out just blocks from the stadium said he hadn’t heard about the city’s housing plans, and expressed fears that he and his wife will be forced to move.
In Inglewood, California, site of the city’s stadium outside Los Angeles, Mayor James Butts told the AP, “There’s no homeless in Inglewood,” pointing to a low local count. However, less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the stadium and just outside Inglewood city limits, nonprofits continue to distribute aid, and LA County’s Homeless Services and Housing Department has secured motel sites ahead of the matches.
In Canada, Toronto and Vancouver said they were relying on their already extensive services to provide thousands of shelter beds and temporary housing rooms, as well as outreach to those living on the streets. Vancouver has also set up centers where matches will be shown. Both said there were no plans to relocate homeless people ahead of the games.
Still, there were sporadic reports by advocates of crackdowns targeting homeless people, including that transit police at Toronto’s main train station had forcibly removed people last month from lavatories and verbally abused them. In a statement to the AP, the city did not directly address the complaints but said it doesn’t “tolerate, ignore, or condone discrimination or harassment.”
In Vancouver, hundreds of activists held a protest over increased security ahead of the World Cup. One woman said the van she had lived in with her pet rabbits was towed away last month.
This city is “sweeping the homeless people under the carpet for FIFA to make it look like a clean city,” she said.
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Casey reported from Boston. Associated Press reporters Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon; Jim Morris in Vancouver, British Columbia; Robert Gillies in Toronto; Charlotte Kramon in Atlanta; Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri; Jamie Stengle in Dallas, and Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles contributed.
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