According to Hands On Atlanta, a nonprofit organization, many of the city’s homeless population suffer from drug and alcohol addiction. Homeless women are a demographic that is often underserved in the community.
The Atlanta area is blessed to have Gilgal, a non-denominational Christian drug and alcohol recovery center for homeless women. The center began in 2005 and over the years, has helped over 170 homeless and addicted women.
The goal of Gilgal is to bring together the love and power of Jesus Christ with traditional drug and alcohol recovery treatment. The name Gilgal represents the biblical city in the book of Joshua where the Israelites camped when they crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land.
"When women come to Gilgal for help, they are truly desperate. Most have been in jail, they have no place to live, and no money. They’ve been addicted a long time and often have other problems, in addition to addiction, that need to be addressed before they can truly recover. Our ladies need both of the key elements of our program, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and an effective, traditional addcition recovery program," said Val Cater, founder and Executive Director of Gilgal.
Charles McCord is a board member at Gilgal and believes that the love of Christ is the center of recovery from addiction.
"We all know that traditional addiction treatment programs have some level of success, but for women who have reached the depths of despair that these women who have reached the depths of despair that these women have reached, the love of Jesus can be the difference between success and failure in their recovery."
