Covenant House Georgia unveils new apartments for homeless youth
Mayor Andre Dickens hugs Alie Redd during ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Gift of Hope Apartment building on the Covenant House Georgia's campus. (Photo by Maria Saporta.)
By Maria Saporta
The Covenant House Georgia will be able to serve more homeless youth thanks to a successful capital campaign that raised $10.1 million — $400,000 more than the initial goal.
The campaign helped build the Gift of Hope Apartments, a 30-unit building that will house homeless youth on the seven-acre Covenant House campus in Northwest Atlanta. The Covenant House held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the apartment building during an unusually warm afternoon on April 22.
Ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Gift of Hope Apartments on the Covenant House Georgia’s campus. (Photo by Maria Saporta.)
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who participated in the ribbon-cutting, said the Covenant House serves a special need in the community.
“The Covenant House of Georgia has been at this for over 20 years,” Dickens said. “It is consistently on the front lines of this issue. Unfortunately, COVID-19 made a serious problem even worse. The Covenant House now will be able to offer assistance to even more young people who are extremely vulnerable.”
Alieizoria “Alie” Redd, executive director of Covenant House Georgia, said the campaign also funded a 20 percent expansion of the P.J. Garcia Crisis Center. Last year, the Covenant House of Georgia served more than 1,300 youth, providing them with shelter, educational and vocational services, health and wellness services as well as independent living skills.
“This growth allows CHGA to serve an additional 189 youth who are overcoming homelessness and escaping trafficking each year, offering unconditional love, absolute respect, and relentless support to empower their stability,” Redd said.
Ben Deutsch, board chair of Covenant House Georgia, has been on the board since 2012.
“We are offering them a real path to long and fulfilling lives,” said Deutsch, who thanked the donors and fellow board members for the success of the “Building on a Promise” campaign.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens speaks at ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Covenant House Georgia. (Photo by Maria Saporta.)
Key contributors included the Gift of Hope Foundation, the Home First initiative, JPMorgan Chase, The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, the Delta Air Lines Foundation, the Schoen Foundation, the James M. Cox Foundation, Tull Charitable Foundation, the Waterfall Foundation, the Zeist Foundation, the Fraser-Parker Foundation, among others. The board of directors gave more than $610,000 to the campaign.
Cooper Carry designed the more than 20,000-square-foot building, which was built by Hogan Construction with Silverman Construction Program Management serving as project manager.
Robert Fink, president of the Gift of Hope Foundation, and his daughter — Donna Vassil, got special recognition, but it was not disclosed how much they contributed to the campaign.
Fink, president of the foundation, said his family learned about Covenant House nationally.
“It’s the biggest movement to take care of homeless youth,” Fink said. “The Covenant House is like a bridge between homelessness and hope. That’s the purpose of our foundation. We look at this like it’s a tremendous bridge.”
Covenant House Georgia is a subsidiary of Covenant House International, the largest, privately funded nonprofit service organization serving young people experiencing homelessness in the Americas.
