History
The Right Chance Can Transform Lives.
Our mission is to facilitate a transformation that empowers individuals and communities experiencing homelessness and substance use challenges to engage in a process of change and recovery.
Our vision is to advance our replicable model of success in our community and beyond for the prevention, intervention and treatment of substance use challenges for those without the ability to pay.
Late in 1987, as the last of the fallen leaves were crushed under his footsteps, B R Hogan made his way to the bleachers of a local high school football stadium. Those were his last steps, taken just hours or perhaps minutes- maybe just moments before he took his last breath.
Shortly after his body was found the next day, word spread. The first question asked was how did he die? Next came a far more compelling question: how did he live? We don’t know much about Mr. Hogan, but we do know that he died in a way no one should, and with great sadness in their hearts, many in the community felt that perhaps he lived that way as well.
A commitment to life was the community’s response to Mr. Hogan’s death. The Marietta-Cobb Winter Shelter opened its doors in 1987 to anyone threatened by the cold.
Within a short few years, crack cocaine was destroying lives and tearing families apart in our community. The threat expanded and so did we. We saw firsthand that homelessness is not so much a problem as it is the symptom of a problem. For most homeless men and many homeless women in our community, that problem is addiction and its causes.
1995+
The community continued to support us in the years that followed. We obtained a grant to hire a part-time counselor and began to build a program that forever tied the organization’s potential to that of the people we serve.
2001
In 2001, we completed construction of a new building next to our existing building, bringing the number of men we could serve to 47. Built in 1929 as a warehouse by the Georgia Marble Company, that old building looked even older next to the new building. We knew we had to address the shortcomings inherent with the old building, but that would have to wait as our sights turned to another glaring need.
2009
In May 2009, we opened our 20-bed women’s facility, the Barbara J. Crafton Center. This program filled a huge void in the community by serving women.
2018
In 2018, we expanded yet again, this time by offering clients who were nearing completion of the program and chance to live off-site, while continuing to receive services at our men’s and women’s facilities.
2023
After receiving nearly 3,000 pre-screen assessments in 2022, we knew there was a greater need for our services. In 2023 we completed construction on a 22,000 sqft expansion of our men's campus. This new building is complete with 52 beds, a commercial- grade kitchen, fitness center, and multipurpose classrooms allowing us to grow bigger and go deeper with our proven evidence-based treatment.
Having clients experience an increased level of independence, while remaining firmly in the program, helps make the transition to independent living easier. More importantly it frees up beds for new clients to enter the program.
Now, with 90 total beds in our men and women's facilities, we have one of the largest state licensed and CARF accredited long-term residential treatment programs in the state. But we’re not stopping there; the need is simply too great. Stay tuned—the next chapter will be revealed soon.