JONESBORO, Ga. — An embattled child advocacy center could soon be repurposed into a temporary shelter in need for families in need of a roof over their heads.
Christina Guillen is leading the effort and bringing other nonprofits on board to help out.
Guillen says her nonprofit YouthServe360 has already come up with some of the funding to transform the site of the old Rainbow House building into a shelter that would offer temporary housing for unhoused families in Clayton County.
The effort is expected to cost about $750,000 just to get started but is expected to fill a great need in the county.
At the Clayton County Board of Commissioners meeting on Sept. 12, Guillen and her team presented a proposal to repurpose what used to be the Rainbow House center on Battle Creek Road in Jonesboro.
The center once housed abused and abandoned children - but Guillen sees that it could be more.
She wants to turn the building into a temporary shelter for families inspired by the need she sees at 7Pillars Academy in Morrow.
“There had been not enough affordable housing and so we saw that being a major problem and so our students wanted to be part of that solution so with the help of and input from our stakeholders and families we solicited funding and we are going to be able to open up a family shelter," said Guillen.
Guillen says the shelter would be the county’s first “no separation” shelter and could take families as large as 10 people.
“When you’re already going through the trauma of homelessness one thing we don’t want our families to worry about is being separated. We know for a fact that some families didn’t seek help in the past is because they didn’t want their children being separated from them," said Guillen.
The educator says there are many families struggling with housing within the school district and adding this resource would go a long way toward academic and financial success for people experiencing homelessness.
The shelter would offer job training and bring in students who are earning construction certifications to help with the build-out.
Guillen says county leaders are slated to make a decision at its Oct. 3 meeting. If greenlit, the shelter would be up and running by the beginning of 2024.