As the FIFA World Cup comes to Atlanta, homeless services grow

Left: People attending a FIFA Fan Festival watch a soccer match between Brazil and Scotland at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, June 24, 2026. Atlanta has one of the most visited FIFA Fan Festival designated sites within the three countries hosting the events. Right: Bobby H., shows a sign he uses when asking people for money at a stop light on Windsor Street in Atlanta, Georgia, July 2, 2026.

While residents from across the world come to Atlanta to take part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, street outreach teams from the Policing and Alternatives Diversion Initiative (PAD) move throughout the city, distributing food and care items to Atlanta’s unsheltered residents.

Left: A sign displayed in the lobby of Atlanta Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiatives (PAD) shows their extended hours during the FIFA World Cup. Right: An individual eats during an Independence Day cookout at the Atlanta Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiatives (PAD) headquarters in Atlanta, July 4 2026. PAD is serving free meals during their extended hours of operation with the World Cup.

Atlanta Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiatives (PAD) employees, volunteers and interns pack up food after hosting an Independence Day cookout at their facility in Atlanta, July 4 2026.

PAD, which has provided diversion and care navigation services in the city since 2017, extended operating hours to 7 days a week during the duration of the World Cup. The organization held a community cookout outside its offices on Saturday, July 4. In addition to food, they’ve offered individuals free yoga classes, haircuts and access to a mobile shower. The living room inside PAD’s office was decorated to celebrate the World Cup, though the guests inside watched a movie rather than the matches.

In the nearby Mechanicsville neighborhood, the Beacon on Cooper Street community stands as part of the city’s rapid-housing initiative, which now boasts 500 units, according to Partners for Home, the nonprofit charged with carrying out Atlanta’s Continuum of Care homelessness initiatives. Apartments at the Beacon come furnished with a twin-size bed, a full-size combo refrigerator and freezer and a hot plate.

The exterior of the Beacon on Cooper, a rapid housing residential property created for members of Atlanta’s unhoused community in Atlanta, July 2, 2026.

Left: Items left behind at an unsheltered encampment that was cleared located feet away from The Beacon on Cooper, a rapid housing residential property created for members of Atlanta’s unhoused community in Atlanta, July 2, 2026. Right: The remnants of the unsheltered encampment.

The Beacon opened to fanfare in April. The area around the Beacon has frequently been used by unhoused residents to establish encampments. The site itself held an encampment that was cleared in 2024, months after a man was shot by a resident acting in self defense. More recently, an unsheltered encampment grew on private property adjacent to the Beacon, drawing ire from other Mechanicsville neighbors.

Currently, 10 residents live at the Beacon, with 20 more on the waiting list, according to said Daniella Petrone, Mend Culture Chief Program Officer and Beacon property manager, during a recent tour of the property.

At the corner of Windsor Street and the I-20 exit ramp, just outside the Beacon, about a mile from the temporarily renamed Atlanta Stadium, Bobby panhandled to cover bus fares. He became homeless, he said, after going through a bad divorce. With the help of a support organization, he found temporary housing and a job at a McDonald’s. He was starting work in a few days and said it would cost about $30 per week to get to and from his home and job. He smiled after a driver handed him 10 dollars.