We are happy to bring you our newest interview with an outstanding organization fighting homelessness – Gateway Center based in Atlanta, GA. We spoke with Bec Cranford, Director of Community Engagement & Volunteer Services who shared with us her sincere thoughts on the biggest challenges NGO has met during the past years, about its biggest accomplishments and much more!

“I love connecting the community to meaningful engagement with those experiencing homelessness that results in dignity, uplift, and life change.”, Bec says. This sentence should sparkle you up to read the whole interview! What are you waiting for? Get busy and find out why this organization is so special!

Support Gateway Center at http://www.gatewayctr.org/ and follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram! Enjoy the reading!  

1. To begin with, can you briefly introduce your organization and what is your organization’s main mission?

Gateway Center works to end homelessness, and particularly chronic homelessness, by providing the support and framework people need to achieve self-sufficiency. Through therapeutic programs and services, Gateway helps homeless individuals in metro Atlanta move into transitional and permanent housing.

2. In which ways have you contributed to the local community?

We provide basic services including showers, hygiene items, emergency clothing, housing assessments, and residential programs for those experiencing homelessness in Atlanta, as well as referrals, and connections to other services.

3. What was the biggest challenge your organization had to face?

We lost a lot of funding in 2013- over $650,000. Instead of closing our doors, we made a bigger commitment to provide services to those experiencing homelessness. We rallied in the community and talked to our corporate sponsors. As of now, we are able to provide services to those who are chronically homeless, seven days per week from 7 am- 5 pm, and then we reopen daily from 7pm-9pm for showers for men. In addition, we have over 500 residents in two facilities who are transitioning from homelessness.

4. What do you perceive to be your biggest accomplishment?

One of our biggest accomplishments is our veterans program. Roughly 60% of our veteran population leave Gateway Center with income and housing.

5. How would you like the members of the local community to get involved with your organization?

We always need committed individual volunteers, Monday-Friday from 9-5, Donations of socks and underwear, and groups to provide meals onsite. Additionally, we are always seeking new partnerships and donors.

6. Do you have any upcoming events?

On April 28th, We will have our Drink Beer, Do Good Friend Raiser at Max Lager’s in Downtown Atlanta. http://www.gatewayctr.org/Events-Details/drink-beer-do-good-2018/
And keep in mind that we will have a signature fundraiser called Human Clay in November.

7. What is it that you love most about what you do?

I love connecting the community to meaningful engagement with those experiencing homelessness that results in dignity, uplift, and life change.

Gateway Center
275 Pryor Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: 404-215-6601
Email: volunteers@gatewayctr.org
Facebook

If you know any Non-profit organization that needs to be highlighted, please contact you #1 roofing company in Atlanta, GA and we will be more than glad to talk with you.

Don’t miss out our new interview with an amazing NGO based in Atlanta  – LifeLine Animal Project, working on ending the euthanasia of healthy dogs & cats in Atlanta shelters as well as managing Fulton County Animal Services and the DeKalb County Animal Services shelter.

We spoke to Karen Hirsch, LifeLine’s Public Relations director who discovered a bunch of interesting facts about the organization in the interview.

Here’s one touching line to motivate you to read the interview with Karen from top to bottom:

“I’ve always been an animal lover, am passionate about helping animals and get a great deal of joy interacting with them. Being part of an organization that has saved so many lives and helped thousands of animals is incredibly rewarding to me.”

Get busy and read what Karen has to say about the work of LifeLine Animal Project and about the job she loves so passionately. To support LifeLine Animal Project, visit their web page https://lifelineanimal.org and follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. 

Enjoy the interview!

1. To begin with, can you briefly introduce your organization and what is your organization’s main mission?

LifeLine Animal Project
To end the euthanasia of healthy and treatable pets in metro county shelters.

2. In which ways have you contributed to the local community?

We have provided over 112,350 free or low-cost spay/neuter surgeries to Atlanta pet owners since 2002.

In Fulton County, LifeLine manages animal control and enforcement, and our officers respond to over 18,000 calls each year and help fight animal neglect and cruelty. We also recognize there is a large part of our community who love and care for their pets deeply but may need assistance from time to time.

In addition to our monthly low-cost vaccine clinics which provided 2,068 low-cost vaccines to pets in 2017, we also have huge Healthy Pet events in both DeKalb and Fulton counties that the whole community is invited to. Last year 2,300 pets received free vaccinations, microchips, spay/neuter vouchers, food, leashes and more at our Healthy Pets events.

3. What was the biggest challenge your organization had to face?

LifeLine took over the management of DeKalb and Fulton County Animal Services in 2013. These shelters take in between 40 and 60 pets a day, 365 days per year. With numbers like these and a limited amount of space, our biggest challenge was and still is saving and finding homes for every animal that we possibly can. Since taking over management of the county shelters, LifeLine has increased adoptions by 300%. We have been able to save so many animals through lifesaving programs, adoption promotions, surrender counseling, outreach efforts, foster/volunteer support, and amazing rescue partnerships.

As far as struggles, there is no more direct a barrier to ending euthanasia in Atlanta than the pervasive resistance to spay/neuter within segments of the community. LifeLine will continue to target those segments of the population with outreach, education and the resources necessary to slowly change that collective mindset and continue lowering the numbers of unwanted litters.

4. What do you perceive to be your biggest accomplishment?

The number of animals that we save who are now in loving homes! LifeLine is saving 83% more lives than were saved in 2012.

5. How would you like the members of the local community to get involved with your organization?

First, instead of purchasing pets, we need more community members in Atlanta to help us save lives by adopting them. If you can’t adopt, consider fostering a pet. We offer long and short-term options for fosters, including our Weekend Warrior program, where you can pick up a dog on Friday and bring them back on Monday. We provide the food, crate, leash and “Adopt Me” vest, and you supply the love.

We also have a “Dog for a Day” program, where you can check out a dog for the day to take on an adventure or bring home and cuddle. If you can’t foster, consider joining our volunteer program, where you can walk a dog, play with a cat, bottle feed kittens and more.

Finally, consider making a donation to LifeLine. Every donation, no matter the size, helps provide care for more animals in our shelters, as well as supports our community programs that help keep pets out of the shelters and with the families who love them.

6. Do you have any upcoming events?

We have too many events coming up to list here, but they can be viewed on our website: www.LifeLineAnimal.org/events.

7. What is it that you love most about what you do?

I’ve always been an animal lover, am passionate about helping animals and get a great deal of joy interacting with them. Being part of an organization that has saved so many lives and helped thousands of animals is incredibly rewarding to me. I also see incredible stories every day. Whether it’s a formerly abused animal who is overcoming her fear of people and learning to trust, a dog who has been overlooked at the shelter finally getting the loving home they deserve, a cat who is bringing joy to his new elderly owner or a neglected pet who was never appreciated and is now someone’s service dog and best friend, I am privileged to witness these new beginnings.

8. Is there anything specific you would like to add or mention?

In order to provide people with low-cost veterinary care and provide even more adoptions, LifeLine has just launched our first capital campaign to fund a new LifeLine Community Animal Center. The new 25,000 square foot facility will feature a full-service, low-cost veterinary clinic that will be open to the public, and a premiere adoption center which will increase the adoption capacity by 2,000 annually. The goal of the Community Animal Center is to keep more animals from being surrendered to shelters by providing affordable wellness care up front while helping every adoptable animal that comes into their shelters find a forever home.

The center’s clinic will allow us to ultimately serve an additional 20,000 animals annually, while the new adoption center is expected to facilitate more than 2,000 adoptions a year.

We’ve received over $3.2 million in pledges towards the new building and are looking to the Atlanta community to help us raise the remainder of the project’s budget and make the facility a reality. To learn more about the project, view the floor plan or make a donation, please visit LifeLineAnimal.org/animalcenter.

LifeLine Dog House & Kitty Motel:
129 Lake Street, Avondale Estates
404.292.8800
Facebook
Twitter

LifeLine Cat Adoption Center:
3172 E Ponce de Leon Ave, Scottdale
404.549.8442

DeKalb County Animal Services:
3280 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd, Chamblee
404.294.2996

Fulton County Animal Services:
860 Marietta Blvd NW, Atlanta
404.613.0358

Read and support them because they deserve it! We in The Cool Roofing Company will be happy if we can make just one person to support them.

The Cool Roofing Company, a local commercial roofing company in Atlanta, GA with many years of professional experience, has decided to raise the awareness about various local issues through promoting the non-profit and non-governmental organizations. Through the years, we have been working with many different clients, so we learned a lot about many different troubles that many of those organizations have been facing with.

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