Kaiser Permanente is supporting four metro Atlanta organizations whose work focuses on addressing homelessness in their communities. The grants are part of Kaiser Permanente’s ongoing commitment to end homelessness and preserve affordable housing by making strategic grants, shaping policy, and catalyzing innovative partnerships.
The metro Atlanta organizations that Kaiser Permanente will help fund are:
- Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc. will support the “2022-2023 Affordable Housing Investment in South DeKalb County and Clayton County” initiative, which will provide 30 single-family for-sale homes and single-family rental properties to primarily Black low- to moderate-income families and down payment assistance (DPA) for five additional families.
- Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s (AVLF) will help staff and volunteer attorneys to meet their clients where they are – their homes, schools, and community centers – to provide support for rental assistance, eviction prevention, and other legal services to keep families in their homes.
- Westside Future Fund will support quality cradle-to-career education and affordable housing for vulnerable residents of Atlanta’s Historic Westside. Westside Future Fund will implement short- and long-term efforts by constructing a new multifamily housing complex and providing rental assistance to stabilize families in need.
- Partners for HOME will support the goal of ending homelessness for 250 veterans in the City of Atlanta. Partners for HOME will employ a team of project managers targeting veterans and will work with direct service providers to devise a plan to end homelessness for this special population in collaboration with Community Solution’s Built for Zero program.
“To be our healthiest, we need high-quality medical care and thriving communities — good health begins where people live,” said Charmaine Ward-Millner, vice president of Marketing, Communications, and Community Relations for Kaiser Permanente’s Georgia market. “Through our grants in the metro Atlanta area, we want to increase access to safe, stable, and affordable housing in the communities we serve.”
Housing stability is a key factor in a person’s overall health and well-being. People experiencing homelessness face a 2- to 3-time higher risk of death than housed populations. Increasing affordable housing preserves homes that improve total health and lift residents socially and economically.
“We know from research and our work in the community that evictions negatively impact families’ health. Kaiser Permanente understands this too, and we are grateful for their support of our eviction defense work and our Housing Court Assistance Center at the Fulton County Courthouse,” said Michael Lucas, executive director of Atlanta Volunteer Lawyer’s Foundation. “Displacement is literally making Atlantans sicker, but through our partnership with Kaiser Permanente, we are able to do something meaningful about it.”
Since 2020, Kaiser Permanente has increased their focus on social determinants of health through investments totaling more than $1 million in metro Atlanta. The grants aim to create more affordable housing, reduce the displacement of lower- and middle-income households, and end homelessness by ensuring access to supportive housing.
