The Drake House
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Mission Statement
The Drake House provides supportive housing and enrichment programs to single women and children experiencing homelessness in north Metro Atlanta. The Drake House offers families experiencing homelessness shelter and comprehensive services designed to assist families working toward financial self-sufficiency and housing stability. The Drake House provides wrap-around services such as basic necessities of housing and food, empowerment plans, life-skills classes, career coaching, children and teen services, alumni programming, and 'next-step' affordable housing. Our History In 2004, the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program recognized the growing population of homeless single mothers with children in the community. They discovered that the closest shelter was in downtown Atlanta. Of which, any male children over 12 were separated from their family and sent to a men's shelter. In January 2005, leaders from business, faith-based, civic, and government organizations joined forces to create the Drake House, a new non-profit that would offer emergency housing to these families. The Drake House opened its doors to our first families on June 12, 2006. As of July 2020, we have provided 161,958 bed nights to homeless families. The Drake House has served more than 500 female-headed households, including over 900 children. Each year, we serve on average 40 families and 80 children, with an average length of stay at 140 days. Overall, 80% of all families move to stable housing upon leaving The Drake House.
About This Cause
Program Overview Program & Services The Drake House program fortifies mothers and children to assists them reach financial security and stable housing. Basic Necessities - Short-term, furnished housing; groceries, personal care necessities; laundry facilities; computer room; and MARTA passes. Empowerment Plan - Upon intake, mothers meet with our Family Services Coordinator to identify the family’s needs and design a customized list of personal and professional goals to attain while at The Drake House. Plans include setting financial goals for self-sufficiency and stable housing, as well as identifying any medical, vision, dental and mental health needs of the family. In addition, we partner with many community-based organizations and pro-bono resources to fill the gap of needed services. Life Skills - Mothers attend mandatory, weekly workshops focused on improving personal finances, health and well-being, relationship management, parenting skills and nutritional meal planning. Career Services - Mothers meets weekly with our career coach to provide assistance with resume development, interviewing skills, career attire, career development and job leads. Career seminars led by industry-related professionals are held throughout the year. In addition, each apartment is equipped with a desktop computer and internet access for job searching. Children and Teen Programs – Elementary and middle school students attend an after-school program for tutoring, enrichment activities, and social-emotional learning skills. Advocate - Each family member is paired with a trained, volunteer advocate who provides guidance, mentorship and friendship. The Drake Village - Provides “next-step” affordable housing available to moms who successfully complete their empowerment plan at The Drake House. Sixteen two-bedroom apartments are available with an annual lease to moms at a reduced rate. The goals of this program are to further financial behavior change and stabilize families. Mothers work with a budget coach and program coordinator to increase income, savings, and credit scores, as well as decrease debt and ensure timely rent payment. Program Objectives Since opening our doors, 515 female-headed households have entered the short-term, crisis-housing program, including 958 children. The key objectives include: 1. Equip single mothers experiencing homelessness through life skills training to enable them to return the family to housing self-sufficiency. 2. Assist single mothers experiencing homelessness in achieving financial and housing stability. 3. Assist single mothers experiencing homelessness in finding employment or improving underemployment situations. In our FY20, 88% of families that completed The Drake House Program transitioned to stable housing, and the average savings of our families upon leaving the program was $2,150. Approximately 83% of mothers were employed when coming to The Drake House and 90% are employed when exiting the program. Last year, the average increase in monthly income was 45%. Organizational Sustainability Non-profits such as The Drake House cannot function efficiently without funding from multiple sources, including government, civic, corporate, faith-based organizations, foundation grants, and individual giving. The Drake House maintains funding diversification with earned, contributed, and grant revenue. This diversified funding ensures operational stability without relying on a single source of revenue. Additionally, our organization seeks out funding opportunities through our board and advisory members' influence, chamber networking events, and community presentations. Currently, The Drake House hosts three internal fundraising events each year. The Drake Closet, a consignment boutique, supports The Drake House by donating all proceeds to the organization. Evaluation Evaluation The Drake House monitors organizational effectiveness through internal and board assessments. The Board of Directors meets monthly and provides oversight to operations in achieving the mission. During these monthly meetings, all financial statements are reviewed and a monthly activity report is given by the Executive Director. The Drake House strives to be a good steward of all donations and funding, with 86% spent directly on programs supporting the families in FY2020. The key indicator of success in achieving our mission is the number of families who move on to stabilized housing upon leaving The Drake House. Currently, more than four of five families achieve this goal. In addition to these internal measures, external evaluations have been completed. TDH has successfully completed the Fulton County Health and Human Services Non-profit Basic Standards program. TDH has also has achieved accreditation from the Georgia Alliance to End Homelessness (GAEH) for Quality Enhancement Standards (QESST). For this accreditation, GAEH facilitated a process of organizational self-assessment, site visits, reviews by peers, and information gathered during client surveys and focus groups. TDH has been sought out by other organizations as a model of best practices in serving those families experiencing homelessness.