Clifton Sanctuary Ministries Inc

Thank you for the opportunity to share about Clifton Sanctuary Ministries, Inc.  Our mission is powerful, to provide a transformational environment to homeless men through comprehensive life skill training and counseling that empowers their pursuit of self-sufficiency.  We believe that homelessness is not helplessness and disability is not inability.  

 Summary Statement:

Clifton’s Night Hospitality Program provides short term transitional shelter for men, 35 and older, experiencing homelessness who are veterans, sick, elderly, disabled, living with HIV/AIDS, those living with mental health problems, and those recovering from drug/alcohol addiction.  Our organization serves these communities with the mission to help them in their journeys of becoming healthy, contributing members of society. Clifton has been in operation since 1979 and has never once closed its doors.   Over 25,000 guests later, Clifton has made a substantial impact in the homeless community.  We are Atlanta’s oldest house-of-worship shelter! Within the program, guests receive three meals a day, plus snacks, weekly on-site case management, on-site health assessments, employment and housing opportunities, daily transportation, access to our computer lab, clothing closet, and laundry facilities.   Our guests are referred to us by our partner agencies in DeKalb and Fulton counties and they typically stay with us for 30-90 days.  We also have a partnership with the Veterans Administration providing housing for veterans within a 72 hour and 30-day program. Additionally, Clifton helps our guests rehabilitate their lives by providing empowerment and self-esteem seminars, AA/NA meetings, vocational computer training, interviewing skills training, intensive counseling opportunities, computer literacy training, and budgeting seminars.

All homeless men who come to Clifton benefit from the services and opportunities included in our Night Hospitality Program.   In our 45 years of continuous operation in Metro Atlanta area we have developed a program that has resulted in, on average, approximately 80% rate of positive outcomes.  This includes reunification with families, employment, stable housing, going back to school or getting job training, getting treatment for a chronic or debilitating health problem, and participation in a rehabilitation/substance abuse program.