Newspaper Page Text
LOCAL
March 10 -16, 2016 » Page 13A
iaAmgi
Organization helps
build shelters to rebuild lives
Picnic tables, playground equipment and other upgrades are added at a nonprofit facility thanks to volunteers from Paran Homes.
Volunteers from Paran Homes, Smith Douglas Homes, Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and other organizations display
a sign that summarizes their commitment to projects to help the homeless.
by Kathy Mitchell
A shelter operated by
Solomon’s Temple,
a southwest Atlanta
organization that provides
transitional housing to women and
children, recently received a fresh
paint job and other improvements
with help from Tucker-based
HomeAid Atlanta and workers from
Sherwin-Williams’ Pro Painters
Institute Painter Training Program.
The project, which was
completed Feb. 24, is the first of
approximately 10 HomeAid Atlanta
Care Days planned for 2016.
“Typically, we do six to 10 Care
Day projects a year,” said Jean
Hilyard, HomeAid Atlanta director
of community engagement.
HomeAid Atlanta, founded in
2001, is a nonprofit organization
that assists homeless families and
individuals through housing and
community outreach. Housed in
the same building with the Greater
Atlanta Home Builders Association,
HomeAid Atlanta works in
partnership with the association and
other building industry organizations
to provide charitable assistance to
the temporarily homeless.
Through Care Days, short
term projects are completed using
volunteer labor and donated
materials. The Solomon’s Temple
project, for example, took six days.
In addition to its Care Days,
HomeAid works year-round to
reduce the cost of construction and
remodeling for organizations that
serve homeless people. Hilyard
cited another recent project through
which HomeAid was able to reduce
the cost to the service provider of
building a shelter by 45 percent
because of industry donations.
“With charitable organizations,
every dollar counts, so reducing
the cost of building or remodeling
a facility by 40, 50, 60 percent or
more means there is more money
available to help the service
provider’s clients,” Hilyard said.
“On Care Days, 100 percent of the
costs are covered through donated
materials and volunteer labor, and
for larger projects, the costs are
significantly reduced.”
HomeAid Atlanta is an affiliate
of HomeAid, started in 1989 in
California by a building industry
association that invited its members
to give products and service to
community nonprofits. The national
organization now has 16 chapters
in communities throughout the
United States.
“They discovered that many
companies prefer giving this way
to simply donating money,” Hilyard
explained, adding that donations of
materials and labor from local and
national partners make large and
small projects possible.
“Those in the building and
remodeling industries already have
the expertise to build and renovate
shelters for America’s homeless
families. Many people working in
those industries are willing to give
their time and skill to help their
communities,” she said. “Even
office workers, who may not have
specific construction skills such as
plumbing or electrical work, often
help with cleaning and painting.
“One of our challenges is to
match the needs of a service
provider with the volunteer help and
donated materials that are offered,”
she added.
Many circumstances leave
people in need of temporary shelter,
including domestic violence and
abuse, job loss, readjustment
after military service and natural
or manmade disasters, she said.
These are the people HomeAid
seeks to help, Hilyard explained,
adding “HomeAid takes great pride
in assisting families with obtaining
dignified housing, whether we’re
building a new facility or helping
upgrade a current one.”
Hilyard cited Decatur
Cooperative Ministries (DCM), a
transitional housing program with
eight homes in DeKalb County, as
one of several nonprofits HomeAid
Atlanta works with to return people
to stable lives.
In a statement quoted on
HomeAid Atlanta’s website, Beth
Van of DCM said, “Several years
ago two of the older homes used
by the program were in need of
renovation and repair. HomeAid
and its partners upgraded the
houses, made them more energy
efficient and the space much more
functional and family friendly.”
The website also quotes
a client of DCM who was able
to rebuild her life because of a
partnership between HomeAid
Atlanta and DCM. “My financial
situation took a deep spiral
downward and I just could not
keep up with anything. I felt so
depressed, but when I saw the
HomeAid Atlanta-built Glenhill
home, my spirits lifted,” the woman
states. “The home was beautiful.
DCM offered counseling, financial
classes, group support, home
necessities and clothing. Since
being at DCM I feel like I’ve had a
new birth. My children are so happy
now and I must say it’s because
their mother is happy, too.”
Since its inception, HomeAid
Atlanta has completed 53 housing,
remodeling and care day projects.
For more information, visit www.
homeaidatlanta.org.