Georgia Works has officially planted its flag in Sweet Auburn. On Wednesday the nonprofit cut the ribbon on its new downtown hub inside the renovated Odd Fellows building, consolidating its program beds, training classrooms and offices under one historic roof. Mayor Andre Dickens joined the celebration as Georgia Works moved out of the Gateway Center and into the restored commercial tower on Auburn Avenue.
The new setup will accommodate roughly 160 participants in a mix of program beds and transitional apartments. City leaders and nonprofit staff marked the opening with a ribbon-cutting, as reported by FOX 5 Atlanta. Coverage of the event noted that the move is designed to speed exits from street homelessness by putting housing, paid work and case management in one place. Officials on hand framed the project as both a bigger service footprint and a preservation win for Sweet Auburn.
Odd Fellows Renovation Brings Housing And Retail
Invest Atlanta, which helped finance the rehabilitation, outlines a plan to house more than 160 men at the Odd Fellows complex and to convert four street-level storefronts into below-market spaces for local vendors and nonprofits, according to Invest Atlanta. The agency describes a mix of 40 program spaces and roughly 124 transitional beds in shared units, plus office space for Georgia Works. Project partners say the work preserved the 1912 landmark while creating a setting meant to connect direct services, jobs and neighborhood commerce.
The Georgia Works Model: Work, Shelter, Transition
Georgia Works operates a workforce-first program that can house participants for up to a year while they complete paid transitional work, receive case management and attend classes focused on job placement and long-term stability, per the organization’s program materials. The nonprofit notes that participants typically work more than 30 hours per week, earning about $7.40 an hour, and have access to GED courses, life-skills training and recovery supports while enrolled. Program leaders point to more than 1,000 graduates and strong job and housing retention rates as evidence that the model can keep people housed once they leave.
How This Fits Into Atlanta’s Homelessness Picture
The opening comes as local providers say Atlanta’s shelter and rehousing efforts appear to be stabilizing homelessness. Partners for HOME and local nonprofit partners reported 2,894 people counted in the City of Atlanta during the 2025 Point-in-Time survey, with several subgroups showing declines, according to 3Keys. Officials and advocates argue that projects pairing housing with workforce supports, like the new Georgia Works hub, will be needed to hold those gains. At the same time, providers stress that one building will not close system-wide gaps without more affordable units and services across the region.
Next Steps And Neighborhood Impact
Georgia Works and its development partners say they plan to fill the ground-floor retail bays with operators who can both employ and serve program participants, with several letters of intent already reported, as coverage from Urbanize Atlanta explains. The project team, which includes DSM Real Estate and Invest Atlanta, also points to grants and state funding that helped make the purchase and renovation feasible. Speakers at the ribbon-cutting cast the move as an investment in both people and place and said programming is set to ramp up in the coming weeks.
