At 45 years old, Richard Vaughn is one of over 3,000 homeless in Atlanta and has been homeless for over 10 years now. Suffering from schizophrenia and memory loss, while also having been in an accident that required surgery to repair his cranium, he moves around several counties in Georgia hoping to find an organization that will put a roof over his head and offer him programs and opportunities that will help get his life on track. “It’s mostly, if I can find a roof over my head, that’s what is most important to me right now,” said Vaughn. He stated that his most recent stop at the Atlanta Mission: The Shepherd’s Inn, will provide a consistent place for him to sleep and eat, while offering him classes and opportunities to start getting back on his feet. “I had done like a program, some little state program, but the folks in the program didn’t help me. I kept going back and forth, leaving and coming back into the program, to the point where I’d rather just be on the streets. Folks were fighting, and it wasn’t a better environment than the one I’m currently in. I don’t like violence, that was a little too much for me,” Vaughn said.
The Atlanta Mission is an organization that provides homeless shelters throughout the city of Atlanta, stating on their website that they “transform, through Christ, the lives of those facing homelessness.” They offer special classes where they bring in speakers who teach and inform those who attend, while offering help towards homeless people dealing with drug and alcohol problems. Vaughn has taken a few classes offered at the Shepherd’s Inn shelter, “I was in a class called resilience, and in the class they tried to teach us how to pull ourselves together and figure out our problems so we can work on them and fix ourselves back out into the real world,” Vaughn stated. He claims they had a bible studies class on Tuesdays that he really enjoyed, but they recently stopped offering it.
When asked about any family or people he could get in touch with that could help him, he simply stated “I don’t have a family. I had some close friends a while back, but one thing led to another, and things happened, and I was eventually scapegoated and blamed for things that I did not do. I’ve been homeless ever since.” Vaughn will continue to come to the Inn, hoping that this is the place that can finally help get his life back on track, “I’m not expecting much, but at least it’s a place where I can sleep with a roof on my head” he said. The Shepherd’s Inn shelter states they offer overnight shelter for 450 men, recovery programs, and vocational training. Atlanta Mission representatives refused to comment or be interviewed. You’ll be able to find Mr. Vaughn in the Shepherd’s Inn during the weekdays, located in downtown Atlanta, he is a very soft spoken and kind person, looking for a way out of his situation.
Jan Perez 