A group of eight nonprofits in the Atlanta metro area is working towards the goal of finding stable housing for 1,000 families living in motels by June of 2025.

The Motel to Home Alliance was organized by the United Way of Atlanta. The member organizations are conducting outreach, providing financial assistance, and working with families to find and stay in stable housing long term.

Mary Grace King is the executive director of Frontline Housing, one of the nonprofits in the alliance. She said many people don’t understand the issues motel living presents.

“So it is homelessness, but it just looks a lot different than your street homelessness, person living on the street,” she said. “It's someone who's paying, but they don't have a lease and they don't have rights, or even a kitchen.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports over 25,000 people in the Atlanta metro area are using motels as their residences.

Frontline Housing does weekly outreach at motels around the Atlanta metro area, especially in Clayton County and South Fulton. King said they use several different methods to reach the most people.

“Having a strong online presence while also doing a lot of outreach in person directly at the motels has worked really well,” she said. “We also get a lot of referrals from the school systems. So Fulton County Schools, Clayton County Schools, Atlanta Public Schools, those are some of the main school systems that we're getting referrals from.”

The nonprofit has placed 115 families in new housing this year. Frontline Housing also supports families financially by covering security deposits and helping them build their savings.

Tags: Georgia  Atlanta  housing  Homeless  housing insecurity  unhoused