A bad economy and cold weather -- not exactly a good mix for some of the neediest people.

This "perfect storm" isn't "brewing," it's completely formed and blowing at hurricane force....

Homeless 'Perfect Storm' Is Brewing
Updated 11/14/2008 9:23:55 PM



ATLANTA -- A bad economy and cold weather -- not exactly a good mix for some of the neediest people.

Atlanta's largest shelter calls the current climate "the perfect storm" to send homeless numbers way up.

At the corner of Pine and Peachtree, Anita Beaty knows almost everyone. She also knows a storm is coming.

Beaty is the executive director of the Metro Atlanta Task Force For The Homeless. It's the largest shelter in the southeast, housing thousands every night. She worries, that storm will carry in more than the shelter can handle.

Forty-eight percent of men and women that come through the task force are currently working, but do not make enough to live in the city of Atlanta.

Another tidal wave in that perfect storm, financial support for the shelter is dwindling.

Anita said she won't turn away anyone that needs help. As those number rise, at the corner of Pine and Peachtree, Anita prepares for the winter storm.

A recent study by the US Department of Urban Development reported homelessness was down 12 percent nationwide. But advocates call those numbers bogus. The study did not count people as homeless if they were temporarily staying with friends or relatives or living in vehicles.