For someone facing eviction or struggling to keep stable housing, finding help can mean calling several organizations, going to different locations and trying to figure out where to start.
A new pilot in Atlanta is working to make that process easier.
The CONCIERGE initiative is a public-private partnership between the City of Atlanta, AssuranceAmerica and the Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Health Improvement (ARCHI) at Georgia State University. Working with local housing and homelessness organizations, the goal is simple: help people get to the right place for help sooner.
AssuranceAmerica has worked with the City and community partners on the initiative since 2023, providing resources and financial support to help organizations work together differently.
How CONCIERGE works
The idea is to make getting help more straightforward:
1. Start in one place. A resident can use the FindHelp ATLANTA resource guide (findhelp.org) or connect with CONCIERGE staff in person at locations where people already go for legal, housing and homelessness services.
2. Explain what you need. A CONCIERGE case manager or greeter can learn more about the resident’s situation, whether they are facing eviction, looking for affordable housing or need another type of support. They use multiple tools available to them, noted below.
3. Get connected. CONCIERGE helps connect the resident with the organization or service best suited to help. If no solution exists, they work to find one that will.
4. Address immediate barriers. When appropriate, limited “Flex Funds” can help resolve an immediate need that could prevent someone from getting help or staying housed.
5. Stay connected. Participating organizations can use the CONCIERGE portal to coordinate services and help residents navigate what comes next.
That could mean helping someone who is working but temporarily staying on a friend’s couch and worried about where they will live next. Or someone facing eviction who doesn’t know what help is available.
The goal is to reach people earlier, before they lose stable housing or become homeless.
Building a better way to connect people with help
Atlanta already has organizations providing housing assistance, shelter, legal help, case management and other services. CONCIERGE won’t replace those services. It is designed to make them easier to find and navigate.
Approximately 20 organizations and more than 60 people have helped develop the model. A CONCIERGE portal, created by ARCHI in partnership with TechBridge, is already being used by the Atlanta Housing Help Center and several nonprofit partners to coordinate services.
The new FindHelp ATLANTA resource guide will provide a searchable directory to connect people with available resources and help agencies and 311/211 teams provide more accurate information.
Parts of the approach have been tested for about a year in the Auburn Avenue area. The larger pilot is expected to include multiple locations and approximately six CONCIERGE staff working directly with residents. AssuranceAmerica has contracted with ARCHI to help manage, train and evaluate the pilot.
Preventing problems before they become a crisis
Atlanta-based AssuranceAmerica directs 5 percent of its profits toward efforts addressing homelessness in the communities it serves. The company began deepening its work in Atlanta in 2023 and has helped lead the development of CONCIERGE with the City and participating organizations.
The company also provides CONCIERGE case management support through InTown Cares to five families featured in Pulitzer Prize-winning author Brian Goldstone’s book There Is No Place for Us.
“There is a huge need for streamlining communication of those seeking help to avoid homelessness and help with housing,” said Anne Ostholthoff, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at AssuranceAmerica. “It’s amazing to see what a positive difference a few new tools can have on the entire ecosystem to make positive change happen.”
The work also connects to a larger conversation in Atlanta about eviction prevention.
On September 10, AssuranceAmerica hosted Eviction Lab at the Atlanta History Center, bringing together housing organizations, community leaders, researchers and City officials to discuss eviction trends and prevention.
City of Atlanta Chief of Staff Courtney English welcomed the Eviction Lab team on behalf of Mayor Andre Dickens and highlighted the City’s Housing Help Center and $2 million eviction diversion program. Eviction Lab researchers shared data about where evictions are happening in Atlanta and how that information could help reach residents sooner.
The Eviction Lab event and CONCIERGE pilot are separate efforts, but both focus on reaching people earlier. For CONCIERGE, that means making it easier for residents to know where to start and where to go next. Visit https://www.archicollaborative.org/concierge to give to the effort.
