Homelessness in Chattanooga Area Decreases in 2026

Photo by Clay LeConey on Unsplash

In The Know with Gino…

The Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition (CRHC) has announced that the number of homeless people in the region dropped in 2026. According to their report, there were about 14% fewer people experiencing homelessness compared to the previous year.

The data was collected on the night of January 28, 2026, across 11 counties in Southeast Tennessee. This count gives a snapshot of how many people are homeless at a specific point in time. However, it’s important to remember that this is just one way to measure homelessness and doesn’t show the full picture.

In 2026, a total of 939 people were found to be homeless in the region. This is 14% fewer than in 2025. Of these, 607 people were living without shelter, which is a 7.5% decrease. The number of people staying in shelters was 332, showing a 23.9% drop.

The executive director of CRHC, Mackenzie Kelly, said that the count helps ensure the community gets the right funding from the federal government. She also mentioned that while the numbers are encouraging, the community still faces challenges. Funding priorities are changing, and there’s more competition for resources. The goal remains to make homelessness rare, short-lived, and non-recurring by improving local services.

The count was conducted using several methods, including surveys at service locations, outreach to encampments, and data from shelters. Different approaches helped gather accurate information about homelessness across the region.

For more details or to see the full report, people can click here.

SOURCE: Chattanoogan