Unhoused students in one of Atlanta's largest suburbs will have a place to live thanks to the generosity of their community.
Nonprofit organizations and volunteers in Marietta are working to raise $3 million to build 15 tiny homes for students and their families, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
The program, which was approved by the city in December, is a partnership between home décor company Glory Haus and MUST Ministries. The tiny home community will be called Emmanuel's Village.
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Definitely 🙁 "Emmanuel means God is with us. For many of the homeless, they feel like the community's given up on them, their families have given up on them. Some even feel like God's given up on them," Kevin Pounds of MUST Ministries said. "We just want these families to know we care about them, and God cares about them, and they're not forgotten."
Pounds told Fox 5 there are 1,900 unhoused children in Cobb County schools, including 500 in Marietta.
They will be able to live in the transitional housing for up to two years, and the site will feature a playground and gardens.
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MUST also operates the Hope House, an emergency shelter with 136 beds, and other housing programs. Its neighborhood pantry, workforce development initiative, clothing centers, and more provide vital assistance to the community.
One in six children live in poverty, according to the American Psychological Association, which most predominantly affects American Indian, Alaska Native, Black, and Hispanic people. Kids who experience homelessness develop learning deficits, poor social-emotional functioning, and behavioral and health issues, among other problems.
The vision for Emmanuel's Village is to offer long-term help and to keep people from reaching those dire straits.
"Those people lining up at the shelter represent people who have hit rock bottom. They have nowhere else to go, and this is kind of an upstream solution to prevent families from getting in that situation," Pounds told Fox 5.
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