Formerly incarcerated Atlantans help the city's unhoused residents find a way off the street
A group of former incarcerated Atlantans hit the streets every week to make sure that the city's unhoused population is safe and supported.
Helping the unhoused community isn't a job for Dana Goodwin, it's a calling.
"This is my city. Who else gonna do it beside me?" Goodwin said.
Goodwin and Kenneth Franklin are both community engagement specialists for Urban Alchemy, an organization devoted to connecting with people who are unhoused in metro Atlanta.
They, and more than 95% of the organization, are formerly incarcerated. Goodwin turned a decade of incarceration into a mission of community care. Franklin served 16 years in prison and is now working to show how second chances can lead to big results.
"Urban Alchemy is the place that would only hire me," Franklin said.
Every week, the men spend hours walking and relating to people as part of the organization's LOVE Team, which stands for "Leading Outreach with Valued Engagement." The group conducts wellness checks, watches out for overdoses, and links people on the streets with support organizations.
"You get the stigma of 'He's a criminal. There will never be no change for him,' and I think it's the same for our unhoused—'they're tearing up our streets, hide them somewhere,'" Franklin said.
"And they just look at them as if they don't belong when they really do," Goodwin said. "They're just down on their luck. That really makes me sad."
Douglas Curate was one of the members of Atlanta's unhoused community who Urban Alchemy has worked with. He had been unhoused for over a year, but he believes it was for a reason.
"He's testing me and he's getting me ready. I don't know what he is getting me ready for but I'm prepared," Curate says.
Three days after speaking with CBS News Atlanta, Curate and his dog, Sweetie, got some good news. The nonprofit Safehouse Outreach found them a home, packed with food and essentials.
"I never lost the faith. I never gave up and here we are and she's happy," Curate said.
"Just to see someone were working with to get into that space, that's the acknowledgment I live for. That's the therapy," Franklin said. "I'm trying not to be emotional, but that's what it is."
Curate is overjoyed to go, as he put it, "from concrete to the carpet."
"No more ambassadors riding down the streets on scooters honking at us, telling us to get up. No more of that," he said.
For the workers at Urban Alchemy, Curate's success story is just one of the many they want to have in the future.
"I can't wait to see the rest of them move in because were gonna get them all off the street. That's my word, that's Urban Alchemy's word," Goodwin said. "I promise."
You can find out more about Urban Alchemy here and Safehouse Outreach here.