In December 1984, Good Works Inc. purchased the current rural homeless shelter property in the neighborhood of the west end of Athens on Central Avenue. After a year with live-in house managers, the ministry hired over-night workers to staff the program in 1986. In January 2001, we renamed the emergency shelter "The Timothy House." The Timothy House operates 24 hours daily.

Click here for true stories of people seeking shelter.
(Their names have been changed to protect their anonymity.)

GOOD WORKS' OBJECTIVE for the Timothy House Emergency Shelter program is to provide a safe, clean, stable, temporary, yet homelike place for people to BE while the residents work on the issues in their lives, which led to homelessness.

provide means that out of the love of God born in our lives, we stretch out our hands (at times sacrificially and painfully) to those in need.

safe means we place an emphasis on both physical safety and emotional safety.

clean means that we emphasize keeping bodies, buildings and motives clean.

stable means that when receiving a new person into our programs, we consider how they will impact those already here.

homelike means everyone has something to share and something to receive. Residents can help, encourage and protect one another.

place to BE means people are accepted for who they are, not just for what they do.

while the residents work means helping each person take responsibility for working toward solutions to the problems they are facing. This includes:

1. identifying the problem, owning up to the problem
2. working out short, medium and long-term plans for overcoming the problems.

on the issues means helping people find a reasonable place to begin tackling the many tangled issues in their lives.

which led to homelessness means recognizing that we also must work to prevent people from continuing to be homeless by facilitating healthy social networks among those who have become disconnected from family and community.
Some of the issues with which the homeless struggle are:

• lack of affordable housing
• mental illness
• drug and alcohol addiction & abuse
• domestic disputes (almost half of the homeless we serve come as a result of some kind of domestic dispute)
• legal problems
• money management
• child custody issues

Over the past 20 years we have served two-parent families, single-parent families, single men, single women, victims of domestic violence, the mentally and emotionally ill and abused, substance abusers, veterans, students and travelers.

How to make a referral for Shelter