Today we’d like to introduce you to Maureen Kornowa.
Maureen, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2014, I was running another non-profit and was approached by the Board of Directors from Gwinnett Children’s Shelter. They were open to taking a 25-year business in another direction and weren’t sure what that was. The vision was clear, however, the journey was not. We began by severing ties with the State of Georgia and went completely private in an effort to help a greater number of children in a greater way. In June of 2014, we opened the new program and are now known as Home of Hope at Gwinnett Children’s Shelter.
Our forward-thinking program takes homeless children and their young mothers out of sleeping in their cars or extended stay hotels. We, first and foremost, keep the family unit together and teach mom to fish. Our kids are in a safe, loving, family-like environment where they are free to be happy children while Mom has all the life skills training needed to see her to independence.
Since beginning our journey with 5 families, we now serve 10 at a time with a growth and development plan to serve as many as 22 families simultaneously by the end of this year. We have delivered over 40 families out of homelessness and we KNOW that Home of Hope at Gwinnett Children’s Shelter is a forward-thinking program designed to end the cycle of homelessness for 2 generations at one time.
Has it been a smooth road?
Our journey since 2014 has not been a smooth one, however, each obstacle was just that, an obstacle from which we grew and learned how to do things better. One of the major struggles was losing funding from two large organizations because of the change in our mission.
Under the old program contracted by the State, GCS was a holding facility, if you will, for teenagers from DFACS and DJJ (Dept. of Juvenile Justice) until their case managers could place them. At that time we saw 300-500 kids per year through our doors. Those organizations who chose to no longer fund our program, did so because they felt that they wanted to put their funds where it served the most people. While we were very disappointed in that they were short-sighted, we knew that God took us to it and He would see us through it! Investing in the independence of a young family saves us all over the lifetime of that young person. It saves us because those children thrive with Mom’s choice to work hard and our kids won’t know the homeless life anymore. It saves us because they won’t have a need for our social services. It saves us because we helped create and instill hope and happiness in the lives of our future civic and community leaders. These children are our future doctors, lawyers, police and firemen/women. These wonderful children are our future. We have them for a short time, however, we touch their lives forever.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Home of Hope at Gwinnett Children’s Shelter story. Tell us more about the business.
Home of Hope at GCS is a transitional living shelter for homeless children and their young moms. We provide a 3-12 month (or more) program with all the support services one needs to get back on their feet. We have a beautiful 45-acre campus with sports fields and walking trails. We are unique in that we have the opportunity to step into the lives of each guest while they are with us. We give customized support, a listening ear and a loving environment. We like to say we take our guests from homelessness to hopeful and into a home of their own.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Unfortunately, homelessness is alive and well in the suburbs and there is no easy fix. We are part of a collaboration of non-profits in the Atlanta area who are willing to work together to address the issue of homelessness. It begins with early childhood education, emergency shelter to transitional living shelters to the need for affordable housing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.homeofhopegcs.org
- Phone: 678-546-8770
- Email: mkornowa@gwinnettchildrenshelter.org
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