The gray bungalow-style house next to Oakhurst Baptist Church has undergone more than just a renovation. Inside, past a sunny kitchen and spacious living area, 11 private bedrooms line the hallways of the two-story house. By the end of the year, the bedrooms will be occupied by women who have experienced homelessness in DeKalb County.
On Dec. 3, community leaders gathered on the front porch of the gray house on East Lake Drive and cut the ceremonial ribbon to unveil the DeKalb Women’s Workforce Development Program.
The house is the site of Georgia Works’ first program for women, a collaboration with A Home For Everyone in DeKalb and Oakhurst Center for Community. The DeKalb Women’s Workforce Development Program will provide transitional housing and wraparound services for women who have experienced or are currently experiencing homelessness.
“Today is not just a milestone, but it’s a beginning,” said Princess Futrell, executive director of the Oakhurst Center for Community. “Very soon we will have women moving in, women who have faced obstacles many of us will never fully understand. And when they enter this space, they will be stepping into safety, community and possibility. They will have access to workforce development, wraparound support and the chance to build long-term stability and independence.”
Georgia Works aims to end homelessness in DeKalb County by providing chronically unhoused people with the resources and support they need to become self-sufficient. Since 2013, over 1,000 men have graduated from the program with improved employment rates, family relationships and fewer arrests. The opening of the DeKalb Women’s Program marks Georgia Works’ expansion to include services specifically for women.
“We know that women’s workforce development will be equally successful and that these women will come here and absolutely take advantage of the opportunity to rebuild their lives,” Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett said.
Women can be referred to the program by the DeKalb County Continuum of Care, nonprofit organizations, prisons and jails. The program is intended to last six to eight months, but women may stay in the house for up to one year if needed, said Darlene Schultz, the president and CEO of Georgia Works.
Upon entering the house, residents receive an orientation, a mental health evaluation, medical care and are connected to other resources they may need. The program includes daily group meetings for the first 30 days.
“This program will create pathways for women emerging from incredibly challenging situations, giving them not only a place to stay, but an opportunity to rebuild, reimagine and reclaim their lives,” Futrell said.
The property is owned by Oakhurst Baptist Church and has housed the Oakhurst Recovery Center for over two decades before it closed in 2020. When A Home For Everyone in DeKalb approached Georgia Works in early 2024 to collaborate on a women’s program, the house on East Lake Drive was still vacant. A Home For Everyone in DeKalb, Georgia Works and Oakhurst Center for Community each raised money to lease the building from the church, and Georgia Works operates the programming.
“This is more than a ribbon-cutting. What you have here is a declaration of intent,” said Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, CEO of DeKalb County. “We’re in a precarious time in America because more and more we find ourselves as elected officials filling the gap. Until we come together as a community to understand the importance of creating opportunity, then there is no legislation that can mandate morality and decency. It all starts with people who care enough to create programs like what we have here today.”
This is an important initiative for the community. Providing transitional housing and wraparound support can make a real difference for women in need.