Dickens suspends water disconnections, city housing evictions amid shutdown
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has issued an order suspending city housing evictions and water disconnections because of late payments amid the federal government shutdown in Washington D.C.
The mayor’s announcement comes two days before more than a million Georgians are set to lose access to benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, when the assistance expires on Nov. 1.
At the Atlanta Community Food Center in Adamsville on Thursday, Dickens said that roughly 580,000 metro Atlanta residents depend on the federal food program and face the looming threat of not knowing where their next meal may come from.
Especially for furloughed and unpaid federal employees who, on Tuesday, received their first zero-dollar paycheck.
The moratorium on late water payment disconnections of residential customers and evictions in city-owned and funded housing complexes runs through Jan. 31, 2026. Dickens said the city is doing what it can to ease financial burdens as hope for an end to the shutdown remains low.
“These measures ensure that Atlanta’s most vulnerable residents have a safety net, no matter what happens at the federal level,” Dickens said.
But local officials and nonprofits working quickly to ramp up food distribution to families in need say they can’t fill the void left by the federal assistance completely, or for much longer.
The Atlanta Community Foodbank announced this week that it plans to take $5 million out of its reserves to prepare for surging demand across metro Atlanta as the federal government shutdown approaches the 30-day mark.
“We cannot fully fill that gap, and this is not going to be sustainable forever,” said Kyle Waide, president and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. “We’re already in unchartered territory.”
Local leaders are particularly worried about the more than 17,000 Atlanta public schools students who rely on SNAP benefits and the more than 1,000 who are unhoused.
“This is not a political issue. It is not a policy issue. It is a human issue,” APS Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson said alongside the mayor on Thursday. “Every child deserves security. We’re unapologetic about that.”
About the Author
Riley Bunch is a reporter on the local government team at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution covering Atlanta City Hall. She covers the mayor and Atlanta City Council while also keeping an eye on the city’s diverse neighborhoods.
