Mayor Andre Dickens joined community leaders, partners, and supporters Wednesday to celebrate the opening of a new Center of Hope—an expanded shelter and education hub designed to help individuals, families, and veterans move forward with stability and purpose.
Located at 469 Marietta Street NW, the new facility marks a major expansion for The Salvation Army of Metro Atlanta, allowing the organization to serve people experiencing homelessness more holistically and with greater dignity.
The Center of Hope adds more than 100 beds, including private suites for veterans, as well as welcoming spaces for families and individuals seeking stability. Beyond shelter, the facility also houses a new Education and Workforce Development Center that will connect residents and community members to job training, skills development, and pathways to sustainable employment.
“For more than 135 years, The Salvation Army has stood with people in their hardest moments,” said Mayor Andre Dickens. “This Center of Hope represents the next chapter in that legacy—one that recognizes dignity, opportunity, and partnership as essential to building a city where everyone has a fair chance to succeed.”
The Salvation Army plays a critical role in Atlanta’s Continuum of Care, working alongside the City of Atlanta, Partners for Home, and nonprofit and faith-based partners to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring.
In recent years, the City of Atlanta has made historic investments to address housing insecurity, including the creation of 500 rapid re-housing units and the start or completion of more than 13,000 affordable housing units citywide. City leaders emphasized that facilities like the Center of Hope are essential complements to those investments—meeting people where they are while helping them move toward long-term stability.
The City, through Invest Atlanta, supported the expansion as part of its broader commitment to housing access, workforce opportunity, and inclusive growth.
During the ceremony, attendees also heard from veteran Jefferey Woodard, whose experience with The Salvation Army’s Veterans on the Move program underscored the real-life impact of services that combine shelter, support, and opportunity.
“This is what it looks like when Atlanta works together,” Mayor Dickens said. “Government, nonprofits, donors, volunteers, and neighbors all bringing their resources and compassion to the same table.”
