“Atlanta Mission is a restoration, a reinventing.”

Thank you for bringing Michelle healing to overcome homelessness.

As a child, the verbal and physical abuse Michelle endured from her parents made her feel scared and overwhelmed.

Yet there was no escape from the violence in her home growing up, so Michelle was left to suffer in silence. She longed for someone safe to talk to, but Michelle reveals today, “My family would just push everything under the rug.”

Then, at the tender age of 14, when the pain inside felt too heavy to bear, Michelle attempted to take her own life. Thankfully, her suicide attempt was not successful.

But even after her suicide attempt, she faced continuing depression and anxiety, triggered by her history of trauma.

Putting on a mask

Moving into adulthood, Michelle found it increasingly difficult to cope with daily pressures and responsibilities of life. She did her best to provide stability to her own four children. But Michelle became good at putting on a mask in front of other people.

Still, she often found herself triggered by small stresses that would happen during the day. “I always tried to do the right thing, but somehow it felt like it turned out wrong,” Michelle explains. “Then, I would find myself in fight or flight mode.”

“Trauma kept taking over”

At the age of 40, Michelle’s attempt at maintaining normalcy was shattered when she experienced a sexual assault. After that, Michelle’s coping mechanisms crumbled. “Traumas kept taking over. I became so exhausted with life,” she recalls.

For the next several years, Michelle found it difficult to function and experienced chronic homelessness. While her children stayed with their grandmother, Michelle would move in and out of shelters, looking for healing but not finding it.

A place to come and rest

One night, Michelle had nowhere to sleep. She met a volunteer from Atlanta Mission who invited her into the women’s emergency shelter. Michelle remembers that when she made the choice to walk through the doors of Atlanta Mission, it was as if God had His hands out, welcoming her to come and rest.

From that moment on, Michelle’s life wasn’t the same. “Atlanta Mission is not even a shelter to me. It’s more of a restoration, a reinventing,” she shares. Through counseling, classes, and God’s healing power, Michelle has found a space to unpack the emotional burdens she’s carried her whole life.

Learning to trust

Michelle is learning new skills to identify her trauma triggers and calm her fears. Most of all, she’s found a safe and caring team of mental health experts whom she can share her story with. “The biggest thing keeping me homeless was that I didn’t know who to talk to. I didn’t have anyone I could trust,” Michelle says.

Thanks to your support and the trauma-informed care she’s received at Atlanta Mission, Michelle is looking towards a stronger future for herself and her family. Michelle is finding she can also use her story to help others who have experienced abuse, trauma, and homelessness.

Hope for a new life

With your partnership, today, Michelle knows she’s not alone and that there’s a loving community around her, supporting her emotional healing and giving her hope for a new life in Christ.

You’re giving hope and a future

“The Potter’s House is our men’s recovery program located on a serene 550-acre farm. Every day, we guide as many as 180 men towards healing and restoration through trauma-informed care.

Homelessness or addiction is often a symptom of a deeper level of pain. That’s why we see each man coming through our door as a unique individual with their own needs. Men in recovery at The Potter’s House are invited into a season of reconnecting with God, community, and their true selves—this is when real healing happens.

Thank you for showing our brothers that brokenness is not the end of their story, but that God has a hope and a future for their lives.” —Adrienne Bumpers, Director of The Potter’s House

Doug Foote, Lead Mental Health Counselor at The Potter’s House, shares:

“Counseling is critical because the majority of our clients use drugs or alcohol in an attempt to manage their mental illnesses, trauma, or histories of abuse. But God provides the strength each day to do His redemptive work.” —Doug Foote, Lead Mental Health Counselor at The Potter’s House