MUST Ministries will open a 44,000-square foot shelter in May that could eventually allow the Marietta-based nonprofit to house about twice as many homeless residents.
The Christian charitable ministry held an open house Friday attended by community leaders and top political officials, including Gov. Brian Kemp, former Gov. Roy Barnes and Cobb Chairwoman Lisa Cupid. The event capped a five-year effort to make the facility a reality.
Funded mostly through private donations, the 136-bed Hope House at 1297 Bells Ferry Road will eventually replace the nearby Elizabeth Inn, whose 72 short-term shelter beds are typically filled to capacity.
In addition to bed space, the two-story shelter has a dining hall, a playground and learning center for children, and a medical clinic. It will have 10 separate dormitories for families, up from just three at the current shelter. The facility will also have workforce development services, a computer lab and showers available even to those who aren’t staying there.
The need for affordable housing and temporary shelter has increased substantially over the last few years, as rising housing costs have collided with the coronavirus pandemic and drug and mental health problems to displace thousands of residents across metro Atlanta from their homes.
At last official count before the pandemic, there were more than 10,000 homeless people in Georgia. But housing experts believe the true number to be much higher today.
“This facility is needed now more than ever,” Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, said at the event.
Credit: Brian Eason
Credit: Brian Eason
MUST has seen demand for its services rise substantially since the pandemic hit. This year, the ministry expects to serve around 60,000 people, about double the 30,000 clients it had in 2019, said Katy Ruth Camp, a spokeswoman for the ministry.
The group’s spending on temporary housing has risen even more dramatically. Before the pandemic, the group spent about $5,000 a month to house people temporarily in hotels, said Dwight “Ike” Reighard, the group’s president and CEO. Today, it spends $40,000 a month.
Camp said the ministry planned to begin moving people to the new shelter in May.
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