TIMELINE
1991 - Rainbow Village begins as Rainbow House, an outreach ministry of Christ Episcopal Church in Norcross, Georgia. Through a parishioner's $25,000 donation, a house in disrepair was leased from Georgia Power, rehabbed, and converted into a duplex to house two families at a time.
1993 - Christ Church parishioner Nancy R. Yancey becomes Rainbow House's first executive director.
1995 - Rainbow House incorporates and, now with several houses in the Norcross area, becomes Rainbow Village, achieving 501(c)(3) status and designation as a public charity.
1997/98 - Philanthropist Scott Hudgens and his wife Jacqueline donate $500,000 to Rainbow Village, enabling the purchase of an eight-unit complex in Duluth, Georgia. Rainbow Village doubles in capacity.
2008 - Hudgens Family Foundation grants $500,000 to Rainbow Village to purchase land adjoining its property in Duluth. The land is rezoned and the property is acquired.
2009 - Rainbow Village relocates its program facilities, adult service center and offices from Norcross to Duluth. Initial site plans and architectural drawings are completed.
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The Rainbow Village Solution
Education—Rainbow Village provides educational opportunities and support for adults and children. Adults are required to attend year-round life-skills classes. School-aged children and youth attend our mandatory After-School Program, where tutoring, prep for standardized tests, and enrichment activities aimed at improving confidence and academic skills take place. While their mothers are in class, kids participate in “The Big Recess” and character-building activities facilitated by staff and volunteers.
Mentoring and Case Management—Upon acceptance into the Rainbow Village program, each family commits to following a self-sufficiency plan based on an honest inventory of strengths and weaknesses—educational gaps, credit scores, amount of debt, employment and marital histories. Once their plans are designed, Rainbow Village families are held accountable—jobs or job searches are undertaken, monthly budgets are created and followed, savings accounts are established and maintained, children are required to attend the After-School Program and adults the life-skills classes. Failure to comply with the plan results in eviction from Rainbow Village, but for those who follow the guidelines and finish the one-year program, over 90% succeed. A “graduate” program, which includes mentorship of current families and volunteer assistance with events, provides continuing emotional and educational support—children and youth continue to participate in activities as well.
Housing—While families participate in the Rainbow Village program, they are provided fully furnished, comfortable homes, for which they pay rent based on income. When they acquire housing on their own, the furniture in their transitional homes goes with them, but more importantly, they carry their new ways of living with them, too.
Community—At Rainbow Village, community begins with the staff, but by no means does it end there. It includes our board of directors, our volunteers, and our donors. We all need community—we all need each other.
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