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11 of 29 DOCUMENTS

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

January 7, 2008 Monday

Correction Appended
Main Edition

GWINNETT LIFE: Plan for homeless goes beyond shelter;

Group's vision is of housing with services offered on-site
BYLINE: REBECCA RAKOCZY; For the Journal-Constitution

SECTION: GWINNETT NEWS; Pg. 1J

LENGTH: 598 words

It would be a one-stop resource for homeless families.

Social services --- case managers, job counseling, and child care --- all under one roof, in the same apartment complex
housing families.
It's not ready yet, but some local agencies are working on it.
The Salvation Army of Gwinnett; Unite, a network of metro Atlanta churches; and the nonprofit Gwinnett Coalition for
Health and Human Services are working to start a transitional housing shelter that also will offer "wraparound" services
at the same site.
The groups hope to have an apartment complex for the new program this spring, said Lafeea Watkins, a Salvation Army
spokeswoman.
The program, which would be administered by the Salvation Army, is similar to the National Alliance to End
Homelessness "Housing First" initiative. The first phase of the proposal, which is estimated to cost $179,000, will
identify six apartment units, a case manager and a social worker to provide shelter and assistance, said Drue Warner,
Unite Northeast Atlanta director.
Although the groups have not yet identified where the program will be located, two Unite churches already have
pledged $60,000 toward the first phase of the program, Warner said. Unite, which has more than 70 member churches,
hopes to raise the remaining funds by the end of this month, he said. The Salvation Army is formulating a budget for the
entire project.
"This is very program focused," said the Salvation Army's Watkins. "We don't just want to address the immediate
[homelessness] crisis. This is about helping these families develop long-term goals and prevent future crisis with
counseling, screening and heavy social work and case management. It's a substantial program to help in rebuilding
lives," she said.
The Salvation Army in Gwinnett currently runs Project Hope and Project Share, geared to prevent homelessness. This
would be the first homeless shelter with wraparound services in the county, but there are similar models in other parts of
the nation, Watkins said.
"Unite is already moving forward with this. It's off the ground and things are happening and progressing. We're
committed to it. We don't start a program that we can't sustain," Watkins said of the Salvation Army's involvement.
She said a lot of background work has been done on the need for such a program, and planning was done to "make sure
we can do this."
"Right now we are hashing out the logistics of it, finding the apartments and leveraging the resources we have, to get it
up and running and sustain it for years to come," Watkins said.
Although there are a number of church-sponsored programs to assist homeless people, Gwinnett County has no
homeless shelter for families. The Gwinnett Coalition, which has a referral help line for families and individuals in
crisis, typically receives 100 to 200 requests for shelter assistance each month.
The week of Jan. 27, the Coalition, Unite volunteers and members of the Gwinnett County Police Department are
sponsoring a head count of Gwinnett's homeless. The first-ever Gwinnett count, which will take place all week, is
similar to the one done in Atlanta, said Nicole Love of the Gwinnett Coalition.
Volunteers are still being sought to help with the homeless count. Call Unite at 678-405-2164 to volunteer or visit
www.uniteus.followers.net.
TELL US
* Gwinnett County does not have a homeless shelter. Several agencies are doing what they can to fill the gap. Who do
you think is responsible for establishing a homeless shelter in Gwinnett? Share your opinion at ajc.com/gwinnett.
GWINNETT LIFE: Read and respond on ajc.com to issues that affect you

LOAD-DATE: January 9, 2008

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: January 8, 2008

CORRECTION: A story on the front page of Monday's Gwinnett News had an incorrect spelling for a Salvation Army
spokeswoman. Her name is Lafeea Watson.

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspapers

Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution