SAVANNAH, GA -  More families than ever are facing homelessness for the first time, local social service providers say.

Salvation Army Captain Marion Platt said that in November alone, 24 families facing first-time homelessness approached the Savannah chapter of the Salvation Army, and 20 of those were in the position because of employment issues. It’s the most first-time homeless families the organization had seen in a single month.

“These are people that no case manager has ever heard of or dealt with before,” said Wanda Hunter, the Salvation Army’s director of social services. “Two or three months ago, they had a job. They had their own apartment.”

Mark Baggett, executive director of the Chatham-Savannah Authority for the Homeless, also said his organization has been dealing with a surge in first-time homelessness.

“What we’re really seeing an increase in is working families,” Baggett said. “Somebody’s lost a job. The car is broken. There’s been some kind of calamity.”

- read more at SavannahNow.com