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This story is part of The Extended Stay Trap, a series that unpacks the overlapping challenges keeping families in Clayton County—and across Georgia—stuck in extended-stay motels when they want safe, stable homes.
Over 2,000 students attending Clayton County Public Schools are unhoused – and 745 of them are living in extended stay hotels, according to the school system’s Homeless Education Coordinator, Sonia Davis.
Amy Sims’s son, now nine, was one of these students not too long ago. He and his mom spent five years living in one-room extended stay hotels. Even though Sims worked as a food delivery driver and hair braider, money was tight, and she didn’t think she’d ever find an apartment she could afford.
Sims discovered the Clayton school system’s resources for unhoused families when her son was going into first grade at Mount Zion Primary. Through its Homeless Education Department, she and her son received food, access to laundry facilities, and donated Christmas gifts. They also attended events like “shoe shuffles,” where kids can pick out their own shoes for free.
Those events have a dual purpose, Davis said. ”A lot of it is to develop relationships with our families,” she explained. At the events, “we get a chance to talk to them and find out what’s going on with them. In the meantime, they’re getting stuff that helps them with a basic need.”
That was exactly what happened at one shoe shuffle for Sims. She met Davis, who connected her with the Clayton school system’s Student Housing Initiative Program, which helps students’ families pay rent. The federally funded program covers a portion of participants’ rent for a year – but since the funds are limited, only a few families can benefit from it. Davis said the program prioritizes families like Sims and her son, who show the most promise to achieve stable housing, if they just had “a little boost.”
“Without [the Homeless Education Department], I probably would have still been in that hotel.”
Amy Sims
Sims stuck with the program for a year and paid her part of the rent – even though her apartment had mold and insects, and the property manager didn’t respond to her repeated requests for repairs to broken appliances. The conditions were so bad, Sims said, that she strongly considered moving back into an extended-stay hotel, since it was at least clean.
Fortunately, Sims was able to find a better home at Somersby, an affordable apartment complex just south of College Park that opened last year, with financing from federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits or LIHTCs. To qualify for an apartment there, the income for a family of two can’t be higher than $54,000, which is about 60% of the area median income (AMI). Rent is based on income, so Sims pays $1,330 per month for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit.
To get approved for Somersby, tenants also must show income of 2.5 times the rent. Sims said she got lucky. “I didn’t think I qualified, but I took a leap of faith,” she said.
Now, she’s working towards home ownership through a new financial literacy course, Our Parents Count, from the Clayton school system’s Homeless Education Department. “Without them, I probably would have still been in that hotel,” Sims said.
Changing mindsets
Education experts and single mothers alike say that learning more about household finances is crucial to staying stably housed. Otherwise, people struggle to stay out of poverty, even after receiving some kind of assistance. All four Clayton who spoke to Atlanta Civic Circle about their struggles with the extended-stay hotel trap said they wish they, and others like them, could get that kind of coaching.
“I just need to have somebody help me get a job and push me to be better with saving money,” said Denise Parker, 26, who’s raising a six-year-old daughter and splits time between a relative’s house and an extended-stay hotel.
“Some people have financial problems. Some people don’t know how to budget money right. Let’s set up classes for that,” said Parker’s mother, Tanisha Moreno, 44, who is raising six children.
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The Extended Stay Trap
An in-depth exploration of the overlapping challenges keeping Atlanta families stuck in extended-stay motels.
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To foster financial literacy, the Homeless Education Department piloted the Our Parents Count program last year. Seven of the original 10 families who enrolled completed between six and 12 sessions that taught money management, how to protect credit scores, and more. Credit scores directly affect housing stability, since landlords will often reject people with low credit scores or require them to pay a higher security deposit.
The program matched any money they saved and gave $100 bonuses to those who raised their credit scores.
“We are changing the mindset of our families,” Davis said. To keep them housed long-term, she emphasized, “We just can’t give families funding.” Her mission is to “help them, support them, and give them training about how to become and remain [financially] stable.”
Sims has started her own charitable group, Mothers on Missions, which organizes outings to create a supportive community for low income Clayton families. Over the summer, the group took families out to Cracker Barrel for a free pancake party and held a bowling field trip. She’s also collaborating with the Homeless Education Department to connect Mothers on Missions families with food, school supplies and other resources, including a shoe shuffle.
Parents like Sims show how people can flourish when given a financial boost and some coaching, Davis said.
