New Center Seeks to End Homelessness

www.gatewayctr.org

With an overarching goal of ending chronic homelessness in metropolitan Atlanta, the 24/7 Gateway Center is scheduled to open in summer 2005.

The Center will serve an estimated 500 individuals per day and provide a continuum of services to the homeless:

Welcome Center and Drop-in Services (first floor), accessible to anyone off the street, will include:

• food and water
• toilets and showers; laundry facilities
• a place to come in from the elements and rest
• storage for personal belongings; telephones
• general information and referral services

Specialized services:
• chapel
• outreach, intake and assessment
• assistance in accessing mainstream benefits
• a separate, safe, and secure area for women and children
• referrals for internal and external homeless services, including housing and employment
• counseling to promote reunification with family, friends, and support community
• a full-service production kitchen with galleys on each residential floor with capacity to serve everyone in the building and produce meals for outside agencies

The second and third floors:
• 45 transition beds for men, including those with dual diagnosis
• 22 beds reserved for programs designed to reach out to the chronically homeless, especially those with dual diagnosis, special needs, and frequent incarceration
• 23 beds reserved for recuperative care
• a primary care medical clinic
• 22 pretreatment beds for men awaiting entry into substance abuse treatment programs, with access to support services such as AA meetings and drug-alcohol education classes
• 45 assigned emergency beds (7 to 10 days) with a stated goal of the Housing First model
• 23 beds reserved for referrals from City of Atlanta Community Court, Fulton County Conflict Defenders Inc., and ASMI for short-term stays for homeless men
• program services meeting rooms

The fourth floor:
• 45 beds of transitional housing for homeless veterans (in collaboration with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs)
• 45 beds of housing for men in job training programs, including a food service training program run in connection with the kitchen; participants in other employment or training programs may also be housed here
• a gymnasium that can be utilized for additional beds during a weather emergency.

The Atlanta Union Mission will manage the facility under a joint agreement with The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. Vince Smith, the Mission’s Director of Community Relations and Senior Chaplain, will direct the Center.

The United Way came aboard early in the process that led to creation of 24/7 Gateway. At the request of Mayor Shirley Franklin, the United Way formed a Commission made up of Atlanta leaders to study the problem of homelessness. The result is the Blueprint to End Homelessness in Atlanta in Ten Years. The Center is the flagship project under the Blueprint.

At the heart of the effort is a collaboration among a number of regional organizations that recognize the need to aggressively address homelessness. The service providers, in addition to the Atlanta Union Mission, are:

• United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta – operational support; facilitating Outreach Center
• Jackson Spalding – Pro bono communications and media support
• King & Spalding – Pro bono legal support
• United States Department of Veterans Affairs – Outreach and services to homeless veterans
• Saint Joseph’s Mercy Care Services – primary care medical clinic
• Traveler’s Aid of Metropolitan Atlanta – on-site reunification services and crisis intervention
• Samaritan House – employment readiness; job training
• North Avenue Presbyterian Church – pastoral care services and worship
• Progressive Redevelopment, Inc. (PRI) – administering HUD SHP Grant
• Project Community Connections, Inc. (PCCI) – housing search
• City of Atlanta Courts & Judicial Services – reunification; alternative sentencing
• City of Atlanta Department of Corrections – neighborhood partner
• City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Human Services – Referral source and contact point with Atlanta City government
• City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Constituent Services – referral source
• City of Atlanta Police Department – outreach
• SafeHouse Outreach – outreach and client engagement
• National Mental Health Association of Georgia (NMHAG) – on-site mental health services; operator of Outreach Coordination Center
• Project Open Hand – food services
• The Atlanta Collaborative Kitchen (TACK) – job training
• Community Friendship, Inc. – mental health services and case management
• Grady Mental Health – mental health services and case management
• Georgia Rehabilitation Outreach (GRO) – mental health services and case management
• Alternative Sentencing and Mitigation Institute (ASMI) -- alternative sentencing service broker
• Georgia Department of Human Resources Metro MHDDAD Regional Office – mental health services contract
• Covenant House Georgia – on-site services and referral point for runaway adolescents and young adults
• Georgia Law Center for the Homeless – legal services
• Jewish Family & Career Services – Project Connect – case management focused on women, domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health, and employment readiness
• North Fulton InterAgency Council – outreach, referrals, and regional connecting point
• South Fulton Human Services Coalition – outreach, referrals, and regional connecting point
• Cobb Human Services Coalition – referral and regional connecting point
• The Salvation Army – emergency services
• Atlanta Enterprise Center – job readiness
• Jakki Colours – salon services; job training
• Aid Atlanta – on-site services; referrals
• Central Presbyterian Church Outreach Center – ID procurement; case management
• Peachtree Road United Methodist Church – faith community partner
• Zaban Night Shelter – emergency shelter for families
• Crossroads Community Ministries – ID procurement; mail services
• Church of the Apostles Single Adults – faith community partner
• Georgia Department of Labor – job readiness; job search assistance
• Episcopal Diocese of Greater Atlanta – faith community partner
• Atlanta Urban Ministries – serving homeless women and children
• Blood-n-Fire Ministries – faith community partner
• United Way 211 – outreach
• Genesis Shelter – family shelter
• Odyssey III/Community Concerns – safe haven

The Center will be housed in the former city pretrial detention facility at Garnett and Pryor Streets.

For additional information, contact Vince Smith, Executive Director at vince247@aol.com or visit the United Way web site by clicking here.

DOWNLOADS

Documents are in Adobe Acrobat format and requires Adobe PDF Reader for view and easy printing.

Gateway Center Fact Sheet (74 KB)
Atlanta Union Mission Press Release (90 KB)
Gateway Center Service Providers (93 KB)
Gateway Q&A (93 KB)
United Way Q&A (80 KB)
Women’s and Children’s Services Q&A (119 KB)

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