Amber Burns had spent much of her adult life on the run, living out of her van and sleeping on the couch of a friend, fleeing domestic abuse and the demons of addiction.
But she’d had enough of it after a decade. Burns received assistance from an in-house drug treatment program in Atlanta. Instead of returning to homelessness, a nonprofit organization gave her with the housing and other assistance she required to turn her life around.
Burns received subsidized rent for an apartment, as well as furnishings and other services such as counseling, job training, and classes on finances and credit building through CaringWorks.
The single mother, 38, and her two young girls are now in a secure household. No more hopping from one location to another. Emberly, her oldest kid, started second grade at the same school she did last year.
Burns works with a CaringWorks counselor to develop attainable goals. She works as a personal assistant part-time and attends Georgia State University. Her passion is the earth sciences, and she aspires to be a naturalist and teacher at a state or national park.
“We have a safe, warm, loving home here now,” Burns told AJC. Throughout her years of homelessness, she had hoped to one day reach this milestone.
“I knew I needed help to get there,” she said, “and people are willing to help, to reach out and bring you out of this.”
The unwritten mission for CaringWorks, said CEO Carol Collard, is “whenever you need help, help should be there – and however many times you need help, help should be there.”
“What I’m delighted by is when (Burns) was ready to do this very hard work, there were resources available to her,” Collard said.
In its drive to reduce homelessness in metro Atlanta over the last two decades, the agency has assisted over 10,000 people.
Currently, 77 women like Burns are eligible for subsidized housing and other supports. Collard stated that these are all single mothers and heads of families who have struggled with substance abuse. According to her, the program has a high success rate since housing allows them to restart their lives and reconcile with their children, after which they battle hard to stay together.
The agency also assists with job placement in addition to housing. Training, résumé development, and interviewing skills are geared on finding work that pays a living salary so that they can stay in their homes.
And more importantly, CaringWorks offers hope.
“Believing you deserve another chance in life is half the battle,” Collard said. “It may not be the second chance, it may be the fifth chance, but whatever you need individually to get where you want to go is what we want to provide.”
Burns had plenty of people tell her that she would never break the cycle of substance abuse and homelessness. She has remained clean and housed since 2017.
“It took a lot of fight and a lot of strength, but it was so worth it,” she said. “Nobody has to live and feel that way – scared and alone.
“Homelessness and addiction wear you down emotionally, mentally and physically.”
It can also have a long-term impact on children. Being homeless makes it difficult for children to attend school on a regular basis and to pay attention in class.
According to a study conducted by the SchoolHouse Connection and the University of Michigan Poverty Solutions, youth without a high school graduation are four and a half times more likely to suffer homelessness later in life, continuing the cycle of homelessness.
According to their findings, 31,161 Georgia kids in grades PreK-12 were homeless during the 2021-22 school year. In addition, chronic absenteeism among homeless kids was 44.4%, compared to 21.8% overall.
Burns said Emberly is doing well in school because to CaringWorks, and her younger daughter, Amelia, is in childcare while she works. They’ve made friends with another family in the neighborhood, and their kids have play dates.
There is a relief in “not having to worry about having to change schools, and knowing tomorrow we’re not going to wake up and have to leave home because it’s become unsafe,” she said.
It’s everything she has always wanted for herself and her children.
When Burns was a new mom, she celebrated her first Mother’s Day by writing Emberly a letter promising her the world.
“I promised I would always be here for her, take the best care of her and provide a safe, loving home,” she said. “Shortly after giving birth, the place we were living at became unsafe, and we found ourselves homeless again.
“At that time, I really felt like I was not doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” Burns continued. “I’m supposed to be the strong mom who provides the warm, loving home and stability, and I didn’t feel like I could do that.
“But with CaringWorks and the support they give, I’m now able to fulfill everything in that letter.”