Our Mission
Our mission is to break the cycle of poverty for families facing homelessness by building pathways to long-term self-sufficiency, and providing quality early childhood education.
How Your Donations Help
- $50 provides a week's worth of diapers for 1 infant room classroom
- $100 provides a weeks worth of diapers for 1 toddler classroom
- $250 feeds up to 40 children in the Atlanta Children's Shelter for one day
- $500 provides emergency rent/utility assistance to 1 family for one month
- $750 provides 3 parents experiencing homelessness with job skills training for one week
- $1,000 helps 2 families transition into permanent housing
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Our Impact
Mrs. Chiquita Adams’ early life was filled with trauma. Chiquita was removed from her home and placed in the loving care of her grandmother. At 16, she became pregnant, entered Job Corp, obtained her GED and became a Certified Nursing Assistant. Soon after, Chiquita met and married her husband Mr. Terry Deshommes. After Terry lost his job, they were evicted and became homeless. Chiquita called United Way and was introduced to the Atlanta Children's Shelter. ACS provided their family with all the support services they needed including free quality childcare and educational opportunities. While at ACS, Chiquita earned her Nursing Degree and became the first person in her family to graduate from college. Terry enrolled in truck driving school, obtained his CDL, and secured a position with Swift Transportation. He proudly became an owner operator where he runs the day-to-day operations of his routes.
Daisha Fitzgerald entered the ACS Hire Up Employment Program needing cosmetology certification and ACS staff encouraged Ms. Fitzgerald every step of the way! She studied hard and passed her certification exam. Because of her dedication and perseverance, Ms. Fitzgerald gained employment at a local salon, giving her the viable income she needed to move herself and her young son out of the shelter and into permanent housing. She continues to thrive and is now the proud business owner of her very own salon!
Causes We Support
Countries We Serve
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
The Atlanta Children's Shelter was founded in 1986 by the Junior League of Atlanta in response to the increasing number of homeless families with young children in Metro Atlanta. ACS was given a home at North Avenue Presbyterian Church at that time, and we remain there today. In 2019, we expanded our continuum of care by expanding our Early Childhood Education Program to offer kindergarten. In 2020, we committed to keeping all of our families sheltered, fed, and stable and provided emergency financial assistance and Covid relief to the families we serve. In 2021, we continued to provide Covid relief and expanded our housing program to include ACS controlled transitional housing through leased properties. In 2022, we expanded our Keys to Independence Transitional Housing Program by securing an additional duplex property and providing transitional housing to two additional ACS families. In 2023, we plan to continue the expansion of our transitional housing program and also update the educational curriculum of our Early Childhood Education Program.