News & Events
THE LIGHT: January 2024
“Restoration House saved my life.”
You helped Letrecia overcome homelessness to find restoration and healing.
Letrecia recalls it like it was yesterday. It was the day her 21-year-old son was tragically murdered on the streets…
Her son’s future had looked bright and promising. But then he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket in the wrong part of town. Someone, mistaking it for a gun, took the first shot. “It wasn’t his fault,” Letrecia mourns. “Still, I used the pain of his death as a crutch to get high.”
Angry and heartbroken, Letrecia found herself turning to drugs more and more to cope. Without even being aware of it, Letrecia’s drug addiction began consuming her.
Before long, Letrecia lost her job, home, and all close connections. On a path of self-destruction, Letrecia reveals, “I hit my rock bottom, becoming homeless, sleeping in a garage…But God used it to draw me to Restoration House.”
In recovery at Restoration House, Letrecia was met with stability, consistent care, and wrap-around support to overcome addiction and find healing.
“You get all the help you need at Restoration House. The classes and one-on-ones with my counselor have helped me take a deeper look inside,” Letrecia explains. “You’ve got food here. You won’t go hungry. And I’ve gotten closer to God by reading my Bible and going back to church.”
Today, after experiencing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual transformation, Letrecia’s hope is renewed. She proclaims, “Hope means a better future for me and my grandchildren as I live and work for the Lord.”
“Atlanta Mission provides a robust addiction curriculum to educate clients on how to beat their addictions. We also provide weekly mental health counseling to address their biggest emotional issues fueling their addictions.” — Doug Foote, Lead Mental Health Counselor at Atlanta Mission
Recovering to live fully empowered
The experience of homelessness in and of itself is crushing to the body, soul, and spirit. It’s an experience no person should ever have to endure. Yet in our city now, there are over 2,600 individuals who have no place to call home.
The reason someone finds themselves living on the streets is as complex and varied as each individual story. Yet this we know to be true—the majority of those who are homeless have encountered at least one traumatic event in their lives.
Trauma is defined as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. Even a single traumatic experience is powerful enough to shape one’s view on the world and on the relationships around them. Instead of safe and stable, life can feel scary and uncertain. That’s why addressing physical needs consistently through meals, shelter, showers, and medical care at Atlanta Mission is the first step to overcoming homelessness and breaking the chains of trauma.
Once the body regains physical strength, the mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of each individual can be addressed and restoration and healing can be experienced. That’s why at Atlanta Mission, we care for each individual as a whole person—from physical support to vocational services—and we believe that this is the key to restoration.
Run in the Cold for Those Who Sleep in the Cold
Join us on February 17, 2024 at 8:30 AM for the annual 5K Race to End Homelessness!
In Atlanta, thousands of men, women, and children face winter’s harsh, life-threatening conditions without a roof over their heads.
Your registration fee for the race will give safe shelter and critical care for one night to a person who would otherwise sleep out in the cold. The 5K Race to End Homelessness starts at Pemberton Place Greenspace in downtown Atlanta – or virtually wherever you live!
Give restoration to our neighbors each and every month
Become a monthly giving partner
As a Restoration Partner, you can walk alongside neighbors experiencing homelessness on their journey of transformation. You can provide loving, consistent care and healing for the whole person—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Your monthly gift can make an impact by:
- Giving a mother parenting classes and vocational skills so she can create a healthier future with stability.
- Caring for a child through nutritious meals and Christ-centered educational support so they can grow and thrive.
- Providing mental health counseling to help a father overcome addiction and reconnect with his family.
Restoration Partners unlock hope by consistently caring for the needs of men, women, and children along their path to wholeness. The individual lives you transform have a ripple effect across our community—creating better futures, stronger leaders, and healthier families.
Start your new year off right by joining other monthly givers doing something remarkable in Atlanta every month. Make your first Restoration Partner gift today to begin unlocking hope!
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body keep blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23 NIV
