Today, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation (T2T) celebrated the grand opening of its Atlanta Veterans Village. In the Foundation’s nationwide effort to end veteran homelessness, the facility will provide safe housing and supportive services to nearly 90 formerly homeless veterans.
Highlights
- The Atlanta Veterans Village provides permanent housing with on-site wrap-around services to help residents rebuild their lives.
- The Home Depot Foundation backed the project with funds and volunteers.
- The grand opening celebration will be followed by a Guy Fieri Foundation meal.
Grand Opening of Atlanta Veterans Village
Atlanta Veterans Village officially opens its doors at 65 South Service Road, Austell, GA 30168, on August 26. A grand opening ceremony took place at 4 pm. A 103-room hotel has been renovated into an 88-unit housing and support services initiative.
Tunnel to Towers Foundation runs a Homeless Veteran Program to provide dignified housing and end veteran homelessness. This housing initiative honors those who volunteered to defend the country. Residents can access wrap-around support services directly at Atlanta Veterans Village.
“Veterans should never be left behind on the streets they fought to protect,” said Frank Siller, Chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. “The Atlanta Veterans Village is a model for what we can do when we come together as a nation to serve those who served us.”
The Guy Fieri Foundation provided a meal following the ceremony. Here is a list of featured speakers:
- Frank Siller, Chairman & CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation
- Heather Prill, Director, The Home Depot Foundation
- Erica Headlee, Manager of National Partnerships and Strategic Programs, The Home Depot Foundation
- Local community leaders
Support From The Home Depot Foundation
The Atlanta Veterans Village is the first collaboration between T2T and The Home Depot Foundation. The Foundation invested $500,000 to support renovation, mobilized more than 100 volunteers to help beautify the place. Assembling furniture, setting up units and garden beds, and donation of essential items like sheets, shower curtains, pillows, and more made the units inhabitable.
In addition, The Home Depot supplied each of the 88 units with sheets, quilts, pillows, shower curtains, and bathmats.
The Atlanta Veterans Village underscores Tunnel to Towers’ commitment to eliminating veteran homelessness and honoring the sacrifices of those who served. With continued community and corporate support, the initiative aims to ensure that no veteran is left without a home.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation carries out its mission to ‘do good’ by building specially adapted smart homes for veterans and first responders with severe injuries. The organization also provides mortgage-free homes to Gold Star families and families of fallen first responders with young children.
