Nicholas House Dream Builders Annual Fundraiser Luncheon

The Nicholas House Dream Builders Luncheon is an annual fundraiser which helps to raise awareness of and funds for programs and services provided by Nicholas House for homeless families. Proceeds from the event support Nicholas House’s mission to assist families struggling with homelessness, unemployment, poverty, mental illnesses, addiction, physical challenges, and more.

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.

During the 2020 Dream Builders Event. business leaders, community advocates and others attended and helped raise tens of thousands of dollars to assist homeless families. Funds allowed Nicholas House to respond to emergencies and opportunities involving homeless families. the theme for 2021, “Potential meets Opportunity”, will explore the powerful impact of Nicholas House’s adult education and youth services programs

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.

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.