ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Albany leaders say they’re working on a new way to address the city’s homeless problem, after the discovery of a woman’s body near a homeless camp.

A body found last week in a wooded area behind The Move Christian Church on Whispering Pines Road has prompted calls for change. Albany does have shelters, but not much space.

|READ MORE: ‘Suspicious’ death under investigation in Albany|

Dr. Ronnie Mathis has been an advocate for homelessness in Georgia. He says city leaders need to step up and be proactive.

“A homeless dead person in the woods behind a church that’s not going to bring a lot of attention, just another person that’s how they look at it,” Mathis said. “I don’t look at it like that, I look at it like that’s a person that could have been saved if the right resources had been afforded for that individual.”

City Manager Terrell Jacobs brought this issue up at the city commission meeting this week. He says he wants to find solutions that address their needs, whether that means access to mental health care or simply a safe place to sleep.

He says that homelessness is a condition. He doesn’t want the city to criminalize individuals who are struggling.

“I just don’t want them to judge them on this situation that they are currently in,” Jacobs said. “Calling all the local governments, the hospitals and the medical folks and all these key partners in our communities to come together as we start to help these individuals.”

Jacobs says he is working to build a homeless initiative that will provide resources to people who have nowhere else to go. He hopes that it will be in place by this time next year.

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