The Tunnel to Towers Foundation broke ground on a residential facility for homeless veterans in Mableton, Ga., at a former hotel that will soon be home to nearly 100 veterans during a May 17 ceremony.
Just yards away from the looming Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia theme park sits the shuttered Wingate by Wyndham hotel, but in a few months the empty building will become a 103-unit “Atlanta Veterans Village” with affordable long-term apartments, transitional housing, a gym, a business center, a cafeteria and a commercial kitchen.
It’s the latest project for Tunnel to Towers, a nonprofit organization founded after the 9/11 terror attacks to honor firefighter Stephen Siller. The village is part of the foundation’s Homeless Veteran Program, which provided housing assistance and supportive services to 3,300 veterans in 2023.
Tunnel to Towers Foundation completed one “Veterans Village” in November 2023, an affordable apartment complex for 131 veterans also converted from a former hotel in Houston. The property provides both permanent and transitional housing for veterans.
Vice President of Tunnel to Towers’ Homeless Veteran Program Gavin Naples said the organization picks its “Veterans Village” locations based on need.
“We go through the nation to the places where the rates of homelessness are highest, Atlanta obviously being one of them,” Naples said.
According to a 2021 study by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Atlanta’s homeless veteran population exceeded 775 people. Naples said the organization met with several housing authorities and isolated Cobb County as an area of “tremendous need.”
While not a metropolitan center, the Cobb County location is in an “up and coming” area and situated near Six Flags Over Georgia, which Naples hopes will create employment opportunities. The hotel is also prime for a total gut renovation.
“While these future tenants may now be couch surfing, or have just gotten divorced, or just lost their job or just got out of the service, these are the men and women that defended our country,” Naples said. “While many of them do need some assistance, we absolutely owe it to them as Americans as it’s the least we can do.”
Rather than acquire a parcel and build from the bottom up, the Atlanta project will practice “adaptive reuse” to turn the existing hotel room into fully functional apartments and community spaces. The first floor of the building will turn the meeting spaces and conference rooms into a supportive service destination with case management, Veterans Affairs benefits and behavioral health help.
Since there is already a base structure, renovations are set to begin in a few weeks, and officials say the village will be done in a matter of months.
Organization leaders said the project was made possible by small-dollar monthly donations alongside partnerships through organizations like the Home Depot Foundation and government support. The Home Depot Foundation pledged to donate $500,000 to the new facility once renovations are underway.
Foundation leaders said State House District 72 Rep. Josh Bonner, the chair of the Defense and Veterans Affairs Committee, has been there “every step of the way.”
“It’s encouraging to see a quality organization like Tunnel to Towers coming into our community and making an immediate impact,” Bonner said.
The representative said the Mableton facility will serve as a model for more communities across the state that assist in transitions from military to civilian life.
“I believe this facility will go a long way to help reestablish that sense of community for our veterans,” Bonner said. “It’s often said that our veterans are owed a debt that we can never repay, but I do believe that developments like this and efforts across our state will go a long way in reconciling that.”
The program vice president believes once the village is operational the community will get involved in different ways. The organization gets people who want to help somehow, but with an actual facility he said people can offer their goods and services.
“These facilities are set up as conduits for other organizations in the area that want to provide services to our veterans,” Naples said.
Tunnel to Towers handles the “meat and potatoes” of case management and behavioral health, but external groups can provide pet therapy, art therapy, employment opportunities, classes and apprenticeships.
“Once we’re in and established, the community really takes us there,” Naples said.
I think this is a valuable organization and love the idea of re-purposing vacant hotels. Have they considered how the nightly fireworks display may trigger some veterans? It is a great opportunity to help a worthy group of heros. Not enough is done to support them.
Important project. Thanks for the story.
I’m glad there are organizations that are really addressing the problem of affordable housing, specially for veterans. Also, like the previous commenter wonder if the close location near the amusement park and the noise level well be a problem for the residents and if specific materials might be use during the renovation to help block out and mitigate the impact of the noise. Love the fact of the addition services that will be offered and available onsite to residents! Very helpful and thoughtful!