St. Vincent de Paul Georgia Helps 1,000th Family Move From an Extended-Stay Motel Into Stable Housing
ATLANTA, Ga. – August 21, 2026– St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Georgia reached a major milestone on Aug. 11, 2026, helping its 1,000th family move from an extended-stay motel into stable housing through its Motel-to-Home (M2H) program. Since the program began in 2019, Motel-to-Home has helped 1,000 families, including 1,662 children, across 40 Georgia counties overcome the financial and rental barriers that can keep families trapped in motel living. Across Georgia, extended-stay motels have become long-term residences for families and individuals who have few other affordable housing options. An estimated 10,000 Georgia families consider these motels home. Many residents are employed, but high weekly rates leave little money to pay down debt, improve credit or save for the deposits and fees required to secure a permanent home. “Helping 1,000 families move from motels into homes is an incredible milestone, but it also represents 1,000 families who were working hard and still could not overcome Georgia’s housing barriers on their own,” said Mike Mies, Executive Director of St. Vincent de Paul Georgia. “Motel-toHome meets families at that critical point and helps remove the barriers separating them from stable housing. It is one important part of our broader response to Georgia’s housing crisis.”
From a Local Study to 1,000 Families Home
The roots of Motel-to-Home date back to 2019, when the When Extended-Stay Becomes Home study examined the experiences of residents living in nine extended-stay motels in Norcross. Based on 175 in-person surveys, the study found that extended-stay motels had become long-term housing for many local working families. While 62% of respondents had lived in a motel for at least a year, 79% said they needed only temporary assistance to move into permanent housing. St. Vincent de Paul Georgia’s volunteer caseworkers were seeing the same need in their work with local families. In response, the organization developed Motel-to-Home in 2019 and launched a pilot in January 2020 serving 13 families, with support from United Way of Greater Atlanta and the City of Norcross. “From the beginning, Motel-to-Home has been shaped by what families told us they needed,” said Mariel Risner Sivley, Director of Housing Initiatives at St. Vincent de Paul Georgia. “In many cases, families can manage monthly rent. What they cannot overcome alone are the eviction history, upfront costs, credit challenges and other barriers preventing them from getting through the door.”
Addressing the Barriers Between Motels and Homes
Motel-to-Home combines financial assistance with individualized support to help families identify and address the obstacles keeping them in extended-stay motels. These can include past
evictions, low credit scores, housing search challenges and the cost of deposits, application fees and other move-in expenses. Participants receive one-on-one housing navigation, care coordination, financial coaching, furniture and other wraparound services designed to help them secure housing and maintain longterm stability and independence. Since its launch, SVdP Georgia has invested $2,005,000 in move-in assistance through Motel-toHome and developed relationships with 354 landlord and property management partners through its Landlord Engagement Program (LEAP). Support from QuikTrip Corporation, United Way of Greater Atlanta, Gas South, PNC and the Liz Blake Giving Fund has helped the program expand and strengthen services for participating families. The Liz Blake Giving Fund has invested specifically in savings match and Income Advancement initiatives that help families build savings, increase income and reduce the risk of returning to motel living. Before entering the program, a participating family pays an average of approximately $2,189 per month for an extended-stay motel. Once housed, that family’s average monthly rent is approximately $1,302, a difference of $887 each month. Since the program began, that difference has translated into approximately $19 million that families have been able to keep in their own pockets rather than spend on costly motel rooms. After 12 months, 88% of participating families remain stably housed. SVdP Georgia receives approximately 500 Motel-to-Home applications each month, reflecting the scale of housing instability across the state. While not every applicant meets the program’s specific eligibility requirements, SVdP Georgia works to connect neighbors with other housing resources or programs that may better fit their circumstances.
A Growing Housing Crisis
The milestone comes as housing instability continues to affect communities across Georgia. More than 1.3 million Georgia households spend over 30% of their income on housing, the point at which a household is considered housing cost-burdened. Fifty-three percent of Georgia renters are costburdened, leaving families with less money for food, transportation, healthcare and unexpected expenses. Motel homelessness is a largely hidden form of housing instability. People living in motels are not currently included in the federal point-in-time homelessness count, and no official statistic captures the full population. Some estimates suggest that as many as 1 million Americans may be living in motels. The families served by Motel-to-Home experience many of the same hardships associated with homelessness. They are working, raising children and trying to make ends meet in a housing market where the cost of a permanent home is often beyond their reach. Among program participants, 97% of heads of household are women, 95% are Black or African American, and families have an average of two children. Journalist and author Brian Goldstone documents this reality in his book, There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America. Through the experiences of working families in metro Atlanta, the book examines the systems that can trap families in extended stay motels, contribute to intergenerational trauma and make lasting housing stability extraordinarily difficult to achieve. Motel-to-Home is part of St. Vincent de Paul Georgia’s broader response to the housing crisis, which includes eviction prevention, emergency rent and utility assistance, rapid rehousing, transitional housing, landlord engagement, income advancement and services for neighbors experiencing unsheltered homelessness.
Studying What Works
As Motel-to-Home enters its next phase, SVdP Georgia has entered into a partnership with the University of Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities, known as LEO, a leading research organization focused on evaluating innovative programs that help people move out of poverty. SVdP Georgia and LEO researchers will evaluate Motel-to-Home through a randomized controlled trial designed to quantify the program’s impact as a foundation for families to become more financially secure, healthier and more stable over time. The research will help identify what works, strengthen the program model and build the evidence needed to scale effective responses to motel homelessness. “Reaching 1,000 families gives us years of experience and results to build upon,” Mies said. “The LEO study will help us examine the program more deeply, strengthen the model and provide the evidence needed to attract new investment and potentially help other communities respond to families living in extended-stay motels.” St. Vincent de Paul Georgia is seeking additional funders, landlords, property management companies and community partners to help Motel-to-Home reach more families. To learn more about the program or St. Vincent de Paul Georgia’s response to the housing crisis, visit svdpgeorgia.org/housing.
Editor’s Note: Interviews are available with St. Vincent de Paul Georgia leadership, Motel-to-Home program representatives, participating partners and Motel-to-Home families.
