A day at an Atlanta homeless shelter

Metro Atlanta

A day at an Atlanta homeless shelter

Photos: We spend a day in the life of the homeless shelter at Peachtree and Pine streets.

Homeless people hang around the entrance to the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless on Pine Street close to the intersection with Peachtree Street Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta, Ga., December 7, 2011. Even though the shelter has a reputation for not turning people away there are still some who sleep nearby.

Sheldon Pinder, left, and Aaron Bowie, center (in yellow) chat after lunch. Six months ago Bowie was living at the shelter. Now he and Pinder are moving into their own apartment. Bowie has a job as a waiter at a local restaurant. Bowie and Pinder came to the shelter Wednesday for lunch and to get a furniture voucher for their new apartment.

On a makeshift bed between eight lobby chairs, Jeanie Green, 47, talks on her cell phone as she holds her 2-year-old grandson Kailel Stevens. They and Green's son, the boy's father, have stayed at the shelter for around 25 days.

Some homeless people who don⿿t stay at the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, congregate across the street. The shelter has been criticized for not discouraging loitering.

Joshua Hill, 23, left, and Colin Prentice, 18, center, both with Occupy Atlanta, work on repairing a bicycle in the SHIFT bicycle shop at the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless.in exchange for being allowed to stay at the shelter.

After the 7 p.m. curfew, men walk into the large sleeping room called Room No. 1. It fills up on cold nights.

After the 7 p.m. curfew, Richard Stillmank, 60, reads his book by J.R.R. Tolkien in a bed in room No. 1, which has about 400 bunk beds.

Curtis Motley, right, the head of security and resident of transition, talks with Alex Jackson, 25, during a meeting to see if Jackson was ready to return to the shelter after he got involved in a fight at there.

Client Cocoa Chanel, 31, takes a moment to look out onto Pine Street from the second story window at the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta on Dec. 7, 2011.

Executive Director Anita Beaty, facing, talks with Alex Jackson, 25, right, during a meeting after he was evicted after for fighting. The shelter has stern rules about fighting and does not allow weapons inside the building.

2011. On a cold December night with temperatures in the low 30s the shelter was packed with more than 600 men and a dozen women.

1/11

Homeless people hang around the entrance to the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless on Pine Street close to the intersection with Peachtree Street Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta, Ga., December 7, 2011. Even though the shelter has a reputation for not turning people away there are still some who sleep nearby.

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