This column relates accounts of family engagement by a nonprofit working to keep families together while avoiding child welfare involvement. The names of the family members have been changed to provide anonymity.
The thermometer climbed past 90. It was the end of June 2025, and the Georgia summer heat pressed down on a family of seven living in their car in Cobb County. In the front seat sat the parents, Tawanna and Antwan. In the back, their five children, from elementary school age to their oldest, Josiah, an adult.
After weeks of enduring the heat, the children called a social worker that used to work at one of the schools they attended. They described the heat, the lack of food and the nights in a parking lot. They asked for help.
A retired social worker, who had known the family for years through her work in Cobb County schools, contacted a friend who also knew the children. Concerned for the children’s safety, the two drove to the parking lot. With the parents’ permission, they brought the children to their homes for the night so they would not have to sleep in the heat. Tawanna and Antwan remained with the car to protect the family’s belongings while they waited for an opening at a shelter.
The school social worker immediately called us and made a referral for the family. She explained that she and her friend could only care for the children temporarily. They had purchased clothing, shoes, food and other supplies to get them through the first days but needed help keeping the family together. She asked if we could cover the cost of a hotel and begin building a plan for longer term stability.
When we reached Tawanna and Antwan that same day, they explained that they had been evicted from their home a few weeks earlier. Since then, they had been sleeping in the car, keeping up only the payment for the storage unit that held their belongings. Antwan and Josiah had just started jobs at a UPS facility, and were picking up odd jobs as well, but they had not yet received their first paychecks. There was no money for food or even one night in a hotel.
We launched an online fundraiser, knowing the family’s needs would exceed what we had budgeted for a new referral. We also reached out to a nonprofit housing partner under contract with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to ask about space in their shelter. They could not house a family of seven, but they agreed to use emergency funds to provide a 30-day hotel voucher on the condition that the parents come in the next morning with all required documentation.
Because the family’s car was not working, we first ordered an Uber to take Tawanna and Antwan to their storage unit to retrieve the children’s birth certificates and Social Security cards. They searched through boxes, but didn’t find them. We notified the shelter program immediately. Staff at the shelter agreed to hold the hotel reservation until the next morning, on the condition that the parents present the birth certificates by 11 a.m.
Tawanna shared that she struggles to read, and both parents said paperwork and organization are hard for them. We worked with them to build a step-by-step plan. We directed them to the vital records office in Atlanta, the city where their children were born, provided a Visa gift card to cover fees, and arranged Uber rides to and from the office. By 11 a.m., they returned to the shelter with certified copies for each child. They presented the documents to shelter staff and the 30-day hotel voucher was approved. That evening, the school social worker arrived with food and reunited the children with their parents in the room.
We arranged an Uber for Tawanna and Antwan to come to our family resource center, where they met with their navigator in person and completed the intake they had struggled to finish on their phones, and then mapped a step-by-step plan for stability. The navigator provided pantry food, clothing and shoes, hygiene supplies and housing options, and began a basic household budget with the parents. To stretch limited funds, we issued grocery and gas gift cards.
Because transportation was jeopardizing work and appointments, and public transportation in Cobb County is not reliable, we paid for the car repair and provided Uber ride credits, issued as redemption codes the family applied to their Uber account, to ensure reliable transportation to work and appointments while the vehicle was in the shop.
Once the car was back on the road, the family could reliably reach their jobs, our resource center, and search for housing.
During the first weeks of July, the school social worker and her friend visited the hotel frequently with food, snacks and games for the children. On weekends and some weekdays, they took the children on outings or to sleep over, so Tawanna and Antwan could focus on work and housing applications while the children had a break from staying in a single room.
A few weeks later, police stopped Tawanna and Antwan for expired paperwork and warned that the vehicle would be impounded without current insurance and a valid tag. From the roadside, they called us for help. We spoke with the officers, confirmed that assistance was on the way and provided a Visa gift card to cover the insurance premium.
Throughout July, Tawanna and Antwan applied for apartments but were denied because of Antwan’s criminal record and the family’s credit history. As the end of the 30-day hotel stay neared, the second short-term program we had identified was not yet ready. To keep the family from returning to their car, we used donated funds from the fundraiser to cover an additional week at the hotel. During this time, the school social worker and her friend continued to check on the children, bringing food and encouragement.
At the start of August, the second program confirmed an opening. The family moved into a 30-day shelter apartment, paid for by our nonprofit housing partner. Because the school year was about to begin, we contacted the Cobb County schools’ homeless liaison. That same day, the liaison enrolled the children under federal McKinneyVento protections and arranged transportation from the shelter.
Antwan and Josiah continued working at UPS, and Tawanna applied at the same facility and was hired. With two incomes secured and a third anticipated, the parents submitted rental applications to an apartment complex recommended by a housing partner that links nonprofits with landlords to expand affordable housing by recruiting properties and guaranteeing rent. The first application was denied. We contacted the leasing office to clarify the requirements, and staff at the management company advised reapplying with Josiah as the primary leaseholder and Tawanna as a co-tenant, noting that Antwan’s criminal record was preventing approval as a primary leaseholder. The parents corrected the packet and reapplied.
While the application was pending, support continued. By the end of August, the family had reached the maximum stay at the second shelter, and no viable long-term options were available. From the outset, school staff had explained that if the family returned to their car, they would call child protective services (CPS). We met with the parents to discuss options. They agreed that, if necessary, trusted friends could care for the children temporarily to keep them safe and in school until housing came through.
At the beginning of September, just days before the family’s shelter stay was set to end, the family was approved for a three-bedroom apartment. We paid the application fee and the deposits for water and electricity, provided cleaning supplies and referred them to a partner to help furnish the space. By then, Tawanna, Antwan and their adult son Josiah were working, the car was running, and for the first time in months, the family had a place of their own.
