ATLANTA — Jermal Morris found the Gateway Center with a simple search online.
The aspiring musician has made Atlanta's streets his home for a few years. And although his search for a more permanent housing solution continues, he's counted on programs and services at the Gateway Center to get back on his feet.
“It really helped me get my life back on track as far as really just maneuvering and getting my life back started," Morris said. "It ain't easy because sitting out here can get kind of boring sometimes. But people come out here and feed us every day, and they make sure we stay warm. They bring hats and gloves, toiletries, the necessary things just to survive out here in the cold."
Now, more resources are being poured into assisting that same center that has helped Morris and others.
On Monday, the Atlanta City Council passed funding that will give $700,000 to the Gateway Center. The council also authorized a donation of $2.4 million to Partners for Home. In total, the council approved $3.1 million toward support for the city's unsheltered population.
Councilman Jason Winston, who represents District 1, sponsored the Gateway Center investment. Winston was recently named community development and human services committee chair. He said this latest investment in shelters that help the homeless comes on the heels of the city's continued efforts to serve the unhoused. In 2016, the City of Atlanta issued a Homeless Opportunity Bond to help the unsheltered population.
"This is desperately needed. We've got people still living outside, and our hearts go out to them," Winston said. "We want to do everything we can, from providing housing and shelter to wrap around services and making sure they get all the support they need."
Winston said the funds are expected to be signed in short order by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, and the money could reach the Gateway Center in a matter of weeks. Leaders at the Gateway Center told 11Alive they would plan to use the money to go toward the Evolution Center, one of the only low-barrier men's shelters in the city.
The one-hundred-bed Evolution Center, which is leased on Fulton County property near the Rice Street Jail, aims to give men immediate shelter through a harm-reduction model while pushing for more permanent housing for residents.
"This is not going to be the end of the funding either," Winston said. "We're going to make sure we work with other organizations to make sure we come up with a more permanent solution to be able to help our unhoused population."
Keeping the Gateway and Evolution Centers running means Jermal Morris doesn't have to worry as much about what his next meal will look like or what his next day will bring. For Morris, a matter of funding means the difference between life and death.
"They make sure to keep fresh water in there, restrooms, toiletries, showers and stuff like that. These are amenities necessary to our personal health," Morris said. "Without that, I feel like it would be detrimental to our own personal beings."