The “Atlanta Veterans Village” inaugurates its work in Mableton

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation has broken ground on a residential facility for homeless veterans in Mableton, Georgia, in a former hotel that will soon house nearly 100 veterans in a May 17 ceremony.

Just yards from the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia theme park is the closed Wingate by Wyndham hotel, but in a few months the empty building will become a 103-unit “Atlanta Veterans Village” with affordable long-term apartments. term. transitional housing, a gymnasium, a business center, a cafeteria and a commercial kitchen.

It’s the latest project from Tunnel to Towers, a nonprofit founded after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in honor of firefighter Stephen Siller. The village is part of the foundation’s Homeless Veterans Program, which provided housing assistance and support services to 3,300 veterans in 2023.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation completed a “Veterans Village” in November 2023, an affordable apartment complex for 131 veterans also converted from a former hotel in Houston. The property provides permanent and transitional housing for veterans.

Tunnel to Towers Homeless Veterans Program Vice President Gavin Naples said the organization chooses its “veterans village” locations based on need.

“We travel across the country to places with the highest rates of homelessness, Atlanta obviously being one of them,” Naples said.

According to a 2021 study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Atlanta’s homeless veteran population exceeded 775 people. Naples said the organization met with several housing authorities and singled out Cobb County as an area of ​​“tremendous need.”

Although not a metropolitan center, Cobb County is in a “booming” area and located near Six Flags Over Georgia, which Naples hopes will create opportunities for job. The hotel is also ideal for a total gut renovation.

“Even though these future tenants may now be couch surfing, or have just gotten divorced, or just lost their job, or just left the service, these are the men and women who stood up for our country,” Naples said. “Even though many of them need help, we absolutely owe it to them as Americans because it’s the least we can do.”

Rather than acquiring a plot and building from the bottom up, the Atlanta project will practice “adaptive reuse” to transform the existing hotel room into fully functional apartments and community spaces. The first floor of the building will transform meeting spaces and conference rooms into a support services destination with case management, Veterans Affairs benefits and behavioral health assistance.

Since there is already a basic structure, renovations are expected to begin in a few weeks, and officials say the village will be finished in a few months.

Organization leaders said the project was made possible through small monthly donations as well as partnerships through organizations such as the Home Depot Foundation and government support. The Home Depot Foundation has committed to donating $500,000 to the new facility once renovations are underway.

Foundation leaders said State House District 72 Rep. Josh Bonner, chairman of the Defense and Veterans Affairs Committee, has been there “every step of the way.”

“It’s encouraging to see a quality organization like Tunnel to Towers take hold in our community and make an immediate impact,” Bonner said.

The representative said the Mableton facility will serve as a model for more communities across the state that ease the transition from military to civilian life.

“I believe this facility will go a long way toward restoring that sense of community to our veterans,” Bonner said. “It is often said that our veterans owe a debt that we will never be able to repay, but I believe developments like this and efforts across our state will go a long way toward reconciling that.”

The vice president of the program believes that once the village is operational, the community will get involved in different ways. The organization recruits people who want to help in some way, but with actual facilities, he said people can offer their goods and services.

“These facilities are set up to serve as a conduit for other organizations in the area who wish to provide services to our veterans,” Naples said.

Tunnel to Towers handles the “meat and potatoes” of case management and behavioral health, but outside groups can offer pet therapy, art therapy, employment opportunities, classes and learning.

“Once we get settled and established, the community really takes us there,” Naples said.

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