Our History
Nicholas House first opened its doors in 1982. At the time, there wasn’t a single shelter in Atlanta capable of housing families experiencing homelessness for more than a night and none were able to provide the long-term care and assistance to lead people back into stability and help them not be at risk of losing their home again.
This lack of support for people experiencing homelessness wasn’t even being discussed as a problem in need of a solution. Members of the St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church congregation in Atlanta, GA saw families without a home in their community and decided to do something about it by opening up their Sunday school rooms to families who needed a safe space to sleep for one night. And so Nicholas House was born.
The congregants soon realized that one night wouldn’t solve the underlying causes of these families’ housing crisis—and so today, decades later, Nicholas House serves around 250 homeless family members every night and almost 400 parents and children every year with wrap-around services that address the unique needs of families experiencing different types of homelessness.
What We Do
Nicholas House is a nonprofit agency with four main programs for families who are either currently experiencing homeless or at risk of losing their home:
- The Boulevard Emergency Shelter provides families a safe place to stabilize and sleep at night. Residents receive food and other necessities while we work with them to increase their income and secure permanent housing.
- New Horizons provides permanent supportive housing to families with disabilities.
- Rapid Rehousing helps families find permanent housing and secure time-bound financial assistance for rent and utilities. Families begin by paying 30% of their income in rent and eventually take over rental payments in full.
- Housing Stability helps families who are imminently at risk of becoming homeless due to a temporary crisis. They receive financial assistance to cover past-due rent or utility bills, and we help with mediation over any landlord disputes.
Throughout all of our programs, Nicholas House is committed to assisting its families attain three goals that form the basis of self-sufficiency:
- Earn a living wage
- Maintain the physical, mental, and social health of parents and children
- Maintain safe and stable housing
The Need
The daily challenges faced by families who are experiencing homelessness are heart-wrenching. Imagine a child trying to do their homework while huddled in the backseat of a car…which is also their bed for the night. Basic necessities like food, clean clothing, and access to education are uncertain. They are caught in a vicious cycle, with a constant fear of having nowhere to sleep, loss of personal belongings and the absence of a safe and stable environment.
When children experience homelessness, they endure a uniquely challenging and often traumatic journey that can have a lasting impact on their lives. The experience of homelessness leaves children feeling isolated, anxious, and ashamed, while they desperately yearn for stability, safety and the opportunity to pursue their dreams.
And it is not just the children who struggle.
Parents experiencing homelessness often grapple with immense stress, anxiety, and depression. They worry constantly about the safety and well-being of their children. This worry coupled with the struggle to secure housing, can take a significant toll on their mental health. Experiencing homelessness can also strip parents of their sense of dignity and self-worth. The feeling of failure and the societal stigma associated with not having a place to live can lead to a profound loss of self-esteem, making it difficult for parents to regain their footing. Added to this stress and anxiety is the reality that maintaining or securing stable employment becomes more difficult when a family doesn’t have a permanent place to call home. This can perpetuate the cycle of homelessness because the ability to save and secure housing diminishes. Finally, losing your home can strain relationships within your family and with your friends, further reducing much needed support systems.
The families Nicholas House serves have lost more than their homes. They have lost their health, safety, and hope for change. Their children are young; they have often witnessed violence in their families and on the streets; they are anxious, depressed, and withdrawn. Children who are homeless are twice as likely to repeat a grade compared to children who have not experienced homelessness and are sick and hungry at twice the rate of children with a stable home.
Each family we serve needs a safe and stable home and support to build back their life. Stable housing is not merely a roof over one’s head; it is the cornerstone of a brighter future. Research has shown that when families have a safe and stable home, their chances of success increase exponentially. Stable housing promotes educational attainment, health and well-being, and positive social outcomes for both parents and their children. Children who grow up in stable homes are also more likely to break the cycle of poverty, contributing to stronger, healthier communities.
About Us
Nicholas House is a nonprofit agency that operates an emergency shelter as well as scattered apartment sites for homeless families of any composition.
What We Do
We assist homeless families in making the transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency in a structured but home-like environment through one of several housing programs. Nicholas House (NHI) is committed to assisting its families attain three goals that form the basis of self-sufficiency:
- Earning a living wage;
- Maintaining the physical, mental and social health of parents and children;
- Maintaining safe and stable housing.
Nicholas House understands that providing basic subsistence – food and shelter – is necessary but not sufficient to prevent most homeless families from becoming homeless again. That is why provide wrap-around housing services and follow families for up to two years after graduation from our programs to ensure that they remain self-sufficient and stably housed.
For more information about our programs and services, click here.
The Need
Surveys show that there are over 1,000 homeless family members on the streets of metro Atlanta every night.
37% of Georgia’s homeless – 42% in Fulton County and 51% in DeKalb—are homeless families with children.
Homeless families often go unseen because parents want to keep their children safe, which often means staying out of the public eye as they live in cars, abandoned buildings, extended-stay motels or on the streets.
Homeless families often have to face being split up in order to receive services, since shelters can divide populations served by gender and by age. Large families may struggle to stay together, fathers may not be able to stay with their families, and teenage boys as young as 12 or 13 may be forced to split from their mother and younger siblings. Homeless families face trauma even when they’re just looking for help.
The average age of a homeless person in the United States is 9 years old.
Do you feel called to make a difference for homeless families? So do we. That’s why Nicholas House does what it does—and keeps homeless families of any composition together while we do it.
History
Nicholas House first opened its doors in 1982. At the time, there wasn’t a single shelter in Atlanta capable of housing homeless families for more than a night and none were able to provide the long-term care and assistance to lead people back into self-sufficiency.
This lack of support for people experiencing homelessness wasn’t even being discussed as a problem in need of a solution.
Members of the St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church congregation in Atlanta, GA saw homeless families in their community and decided to do something about it by opening up their Sunday school rooms to homeless families for one night. And so Nicholas House was born.
The congregants soon realized that one night wouldn’t solve the underlying causes of these families’ homelessness—and so today, decades later, Nicholas House serves around 300 homeless family members every night and more than 600 parents and children every year with wrap-around services that address the unique needs of families experiencing different types of homelessness.
_