Finding Hope

“This place changes lives, and I’m proof!”

Thank you for helping Kaitlin overcome addiction and find hope!

Kaitlin wasn’t looking for God to transform her life when she came to Atlanta Mission.

“I was in a very bad place and I just wanted a place to sleep at night,” she says.

She did indeed find shelter, but she also found so much more.

“I was at the lowest point I could get.”

Nearly two decades of heavy drinking and drug abuse had ruined her relationships, wrecked her health, and stolen her hope.

“I was an extreme alcoholic,” Kaitlin says. “I would start drinking by five or six in the morning and I would go to bed at 11 o’clock at night drinking. I’d drink all day.

“I’d been just living on the streets for about eight months,” she recalls, “stealing alcohol from places, sleeping anywhere I could find a place to stay.

“That’s what led me to being homeless and led me to be in the hospital because my insides were dying. Literally.”

When she was discharged from the hospital, she had no idea what was in store for her at Atlanta Mission.

“I was just dropped off at the doorstep,” she says. “I didn’t hear about it from anyone. I just wanted a place to sleep at night. That’s all I cared about, just another place to sleep.”

Getting to know God

Through counseling at Atlanta Mission, Kaitlin began to uncover how her mother’s alcoholism sowed the seeds of her own addiction.

She also learned about God and felt a growing desire to get to know Him better.

“It immediately started when I got here,” she says, recalling the nightly prayer services. “I started there, and it opened my eyes within the first week. I was like, ‘Whoa, I have been wasting my time not having a relationship with God.’”

“Now I have this beautiful relationship with God and Jesus,” she says. “That’s the most rewarding thing that could have happened in my life from this place, is that I have this beautiful relationship with God.”

“I came in here just to lay my head for another night and I didn’t care what happened,” says Kaitlin. “And because of Atlanta Mission, I have life. I have goals. I have ambition. I have happiness.”

“This place has changed my life. Not only did it change my life, it gave me a life because I’m telling you…I was going to die.”

Grateful for you!

Kaitlin appreciates the sacrifices you have made to bless her and help her find hope. She hopes to be able to give back in the future.

“I would like to help other people who have been in my position because I want to do for other people what’s been done for me.”

Thank you for helping making stories like Kaitlin’s possible! Because of you, men, women, and children are finding hope!

Restoration House

Atlanta’s new, low-barrier shelter for women and children

We envision a time and place in Atlanta where we never have to turn away a single person. We’re reimagining our Ethel Street property to create a new, low-barrier shelter that includes highly innovative spaces and services designed specifically for vulnerable women and children.

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Why a new shelter?

In 2019, roughly 4,000 women and children sought shelter at Atlanta Mission. There are only 905 beds currently available for them in Atlanta.

This leaves more than 3,000 women and children without a bed. Finding shelter can represent the difference between life and death.

Meeting this need is our top priority.

With a new shelter on Ethel Street, we can create 102 new shelter beds for those in need and expand our day services for up to 4,500 women and children per year,

But it’s more than just beds.

This will be a truly innovative space rooted in human-centered design. From the furniture to the lighting, each design choice instills a feeling of safety and security for women and children who have experienced trauma.

Your gift today will bless mothers and children!

We’re on schedule to open our new, innovative, low-barrier shelter for women and children, Restoration House, this summer.

Will you join us?

Your gift will make a vital difference as we expand our day services and create 102 new shelter beds for those in need.

Please support those who come to our doors in search of hope and a future.

Your gift will provide life-saving shelter and care for women and children in desperate need. Best of all, you’ll help them experience the love of Jesus, the love that changes everything!

Thank you!

A light of hope shines in our city!

At Atlanta Mission over three years ago, we identified the need for additional capacity for women and children. We moved forward in faith and prayer with plans to build a new 102-bed facility called Restoration House to replace the Atlanta Day Shelter on Ethel Street.

In the midst of the pandemic, we continued to press forward with the construction. It is with great honor to God we have seen so many miracles take place to allow us to be on schedule to open later this summer!

This name, “Restoration House,” comes from 1 Peter 5:10:

“And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

As we were planning Restoration House, we turned to experts in the
field of trauma-informed design and homeless services. Now, as we see the structure taking shape, it is a bright light even in the midst of a pandemic in our country! We see this facility as a true place of restoration for those we are privileged to serve.

After so many months when our country has been afflicted with a deadly disease, financial insecurity, and divisive conflict, we are encouraged to see God raising up this visible symbol of hope for us all!


Blessings,

Jim Reese
President & CEO