BY BRAD HADFIELD

he roar of the 1920s came to an abrupt halt at the end of the decade when the stock market crashed, plunging the nation into the Great Depression. As factories closed and businesses went bankrupt, millions of Americans lost their jobs, savings, and even their homes. In 1938, as the country continued to struggle through the depression, Atlanta Mission opened its doors as a small soup kitchen and 20-bed shelter.

Today, Atlanta Mission is the city’s largest and longest-running provider of services for those experiencing hunger and homelessness. However, Atlanta Mission’s work now extends far beyond providing food and shelter. Through counseling, addiction recovery, education, career development, and spiritual support, the organization equips people with the tools they need to rebuild independent lives. In 2025 alone, the nonprofit served more than 773,000 meals, provided nearly 260,000 bed nights, conducted approximately 4,200 counseling sessions, and enrolled 695 individuals in addiction recovery services.

“At Atlanta Mission, we believe the future worth building is one centered on human dignity, where efficiency, scale, and systems exist to serve people, not the other way around,” says Tensley Almand, president and CEO of Atlanta Mission. “So, when I think about Atlanta’s future, I don’t just picture new buildings popping up along the skyline—I picture people.”

Many people have preconceived notions about homelessness, but Atlanta Mission says those assumptions often overlook the complex realities that bring people through its doors.

According to Atlanta Mission, one of the most common misconceptions is that homelessness is a choice. In reality, most people desperately want stable housing but have been derailed by circumstances such as job loss, medical emergencies, domestic violence, or the rising cost of housing.

Addiction and mental illness are often assumed to be the primary causes of homelessness. While both are challenges for some clients, per Atlanta Mission, they are frequently symptoms of deeper issues, including trauma and relational poverty. In Atlanta, fewer than one-third of people experiencing homelessness struggle with substance abuse, and roughly one in three reports living with a serious mental illness.

Another persistent misconception is that people experiencing homelessness simply don’t want to work. Atlanta Mission says many are actively searching for employment, and some already have jobs but face obstacles like unreliable transportation, missing identification, or the lack of a permanent address.

The face of homelessness is also far more diverse than many people realize. While single men are often the most visible, Atlanta Mission serves families with children, military veterans, women escaping domestic violence, and countless others whose housing insecurity may be largely invisible to the public. Some sleep in their cars, while others move from couch to couch, hidden in plain sight.

“One of our goals is to break the stigmas surrounding homelessness,” says Almand. “We also don’t ever want homelessness to define who someone is. We see it as a circumstance, one that people can overcome with the right support, relationships, and opportunities.”

Walking through Atlanta Mission’s doors doesn’t automatically place someone into a long-term residential program. Instead, each person begins a carefully designed process focused on understanding not only their immediate needs but also the circumstances that led them there.

The journey begins when a client arrives and staff assess their physical, emotional, and practical needs. Some may simply need a meal, clean clothes, or a shower. Others require emergency shelter, medical attention, or a referral to another organization better equipped to help. If beds are available, clients can stay while the evaluation is underway.

Next comes “Find Hope,” where relationships begin to form. Social workers sit alongside clients to better understand challenges such as addiction, mental health, employment history, and housing instability. Rather than rushing people through the system, Atlanta Mission focuses on identifying the barriers that have prevented long-term stability.

The most significant step is “Choose Help.” Clients who decide they are ready to pursue lasting change meet with an ambassador, who conducts a comprehensive assessment over multiple one-on-one conversations. Together, they determine whether the individual is ready to enter Atlanta Mission’s long-term residential transformation program known as “Make Progress.”

Those accepted into Atlanta Mission’s residential transformation program begin rebuilding their lives on campus, where housing, childcare, meals, clothing, counseling, and other essential services are provided at no cost. Residents remain there throughout the program, focusing on recovery, personal growth, and preparing for employment.

Atlanta Mission also works to keep families together whenever possible. Because the children of its residents often arrive behind in school, the Mission offers tutoring, counseling, and academic support to help them catch up while their parents rebuild stability.

For clients who continue through the transformation program, the focus eventually shifts from recovery to independence. That’s where Atlanta Mission’s workforce development initiative, “Next Steps,” comes into play.

Launched in 2019, Next Steps prepares Atlanta Mission clients for careers, helps them find work, and then supports them long after they’ve been hired. “Before Next Steps, clients received some vocational training, but there was no official program in place,” says Julie Stokes, director of vocational services. “We knew we needed something better, but none of the external resources we looked into were a good fit until we found Cara Collective.”

Cara Collective is a nationally recognized nonprofit that helps organizations develop career programs for people overcoming homelessness and poverty. After studying more than 30,000 job placements, the organization identified a common pattern: Technical skills may help someone get hired, but soft skills are often what determine whether they stay employed.

Stokes says, “There are five that get people fired: time management, teamwork, conflict management, communication, and professionalism.”

Those five workplace habits form the foundation of Next Steps’ four-week curriculum, which consists of 64 classes designed to help clients recognize and break patterns that have often followed them from job to job. Along with classroom instruction, participants practice real-world scenarios before graduating and being paired with a job search coach who helps refine résumés, prepare for interviews, and identify employment opportunities.

However, finding a job is only half the battle. “The barrier isn’t getting the job,” says Stokes. “The barrier is keeping the job.”

To help overcome that obstacle, every graduate is assigned a retention coach who stays with them for an entire year after they’re hired. Rather than solving problems for clients, coaches help them navigate the everyday challenges that can threaten employment, from workplace conflicts and childcare issues to transportation problems and difficult conversations with supervisors. “Anybody can help you create a résumé. Anybody can help you job search,” says Stokes. “It’s in those moments of conversation, of push and tug and pull, where a client finally says, ‘I haven’t told anybody else this, but …’”

For Stokes, those conversations are what make the program successful. Many clients arrive carrying years of trauma and self-doubt, possibly even criminal records, making trust just as important as résumé writing or interview preparation. “We like to say that what we do in Next Steps is the bridge between a client being stable and a client actually seeing opportunity,” she says. “It’s where they first begin to think, ‘I actually can do this.’”

Throughout the program, clients receive housing, meals, counseling, career training, and case management at no cost, allowing them to focus on rebuilding their lives instead of worrying about how they’ll pay for necessities. Once employed, clients can remain at Atlanta Mission for up to six months while saving money, rebuilding credit, addressing outstanding legal or financial issues, and working with housing specialists to secure permanent housing.

After seven years, the results have been encouraging. Approximately 71.5 percent of participants who complete the program secure employment and remain on the job for at least a year, a figure Stokes believes reflects the program’s emphasis on long-term success rather than simply finding work. “We find that a good majority of those who finish that first year end it with promotions,” she says. “We’ll get phone calls three or four months in saying someone has been moved into a lead role or taken on additional responsibilities.”

Stokes credits those successes to the workplace habits clients spend weeks developing, from communication and professionalism to conflict resolution and time management. “It’s really about getting clients to think beyond the next paycheck,” she says. “We want them thinking about where they’ll be a year from now, what opportunities they’ll have, and what their future can look like.”

Ultimately, she says, the goal isn’t simply employment. “It’s really about getting clients to believe in themselves.”

There’s no such thing as a “typical” Atlanta Mission client. Some arrive fresh out of high school. Others have spent decades building successful careers before a sudden loss, addiction, illness, or family tragedy changed the course of their lives.

“Everybody’s got different trauma and different issues they’re coming in with,” says Stokes. “We’ve had people come in with no job experience, and we’ve had them come in with doctorates. We had a CFO stay with us once. Our clients come from all walks of life.”

That diversity is one reason Next Steps focuses less on teaching technical trades and more on developing workplace habits that apply across virtually every profession. “The soft skills apply in any role that you’re in,” says Stokes.

She recalls preparing a volunteer to conduct mock interviews with two clients on the same day. The first was a young mother in her early 20s applying for a fast-food position, where scheduling around childcare would be a major consideration. The second was a man who had spent two decades working in cybersecurity and information technology before finding himself at Atlanta Mission. “Everybody has a different set of needs,” says Stokes, “and they’re all looking for something different.”

Whether someone is interviewing for an entry-level position or returning to a professional career, the objective remains the same: helping each client build the confidence, skills, and stability needed to move forward.

While faith is central to Atlanta Mission’s identity, participation in religious activities is not a condition of receiving services. Faith-based classes, prayer, and chapel services are available, but participation is voluntary, and clients are never denied assistance because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, or personal beliefs. “Nothing is forced,” says Stokes. “If you want to talk about faith, great. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s OK. The goal is to get you employed.”

Atlanta Mission started with just 20 beds in 1938, but today its campuses provide approximately 750 beds every night. “Keeping those beds available requires far more than mattresses,” says Stokes. “Each full bed means three meals a day, clothing, hygiene, counseling—everything we need to support these individuals and families through their journey to wellness and independence.”

Although the organization receives support from foundations, churches, corporations, and a limited amount of government funding, much of its work is sustained through private donations and volunteers. “If somebody wants to become a monthly donor, whether it’s $10 a month or whatever that number happens to be for them, every piece of that truly does count,” says Stokes.

Support extends well beyond financial contributions. Atlanta-area residents can donate furniture, clothing, and household goods through the Mission’s thrift stores, with proceeds helping fund its programs. Businesses frequently organize drives to collect hygiene kits, cleaning supplies, and other essentials that help clients transition into permanent housing, while volunteers serve meals, conduct mock interviews, teach classes, and assist with special events throughout the year. “There are all kinds of ways to get involved,” says Stokes. “It really depends on your passion and what you feel comfortable with.”

Whether through financial gifts, donated supplies, or volunteer service, every contribution helps Atlanta Mission continue the work it began nearly 90 years ago, restoring hope and creating pathways to independence for thousands of men, women, and children.