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Editor’s Note: This feature originally ran in the Oct/Nov 2024 edition of the LaGrange Living magazine, a publication produced bi-monthly by the LaGrange Daily News. If you would like to pick up a copy of the LaGrange Living magazine, please visit our office at 115 Broad Ste 101.

Feature by: Jeff Moore

Branches of Hope in LaGrange is more than just a homeless shelter. It’s a testament to the power of community, offering a lifeline to those in need of help to turn their lives around.

In a recent interview Chief Executive Officer Vann Ellison and his wife, Lisa Ellison, Branches of Hope’s director of development, talked about its mission and the positive effect it is having on the community and the lives of the individuals they assist.

“Nationally, regionally and locally, issues of homelessness have been getting worse,” Vann explained. “We see a lot of the issues here – chronic mental health issues, a strong community with a big heart, but when someone falls through the cracks, there isn’t a safety net.”

While the organization got its start 10 years ago as a homeless coalition, it has grown through the years to become a 501(c)-3 non-profit organization operating the Branches of Hope facility at 124 Gordon Commercial Dr. in LaGrange, 30240.

Vann noted that the number of people experiencing homelessness has been steadily rising for the past two decades.

The shelter opened its doors in November 2023. With their backgrounds, Branches board chairman Mike Wilson met with Vann who wanted to let them know the couple was interested in helping out and to try and have an impact on the work the group was doing.

“So we got involved in the summer last year, 2023,” Vann noted.

The couple brought about 60 years of experience working with the homeless, Lisa said. Vann has more than 40 years of experience that grew out of a street ministry he started after nearly becoming homeless himself while in college. Lisa then brings her 20 years of experience to Branches of Hope.

Both Vann and Lisa stressed they want the facility to be a place focused on hope, healing and transformation for those they serve, living up to their name — Branches of Hope.

“With all of the pressures, you see the fragmentation of families as we become more isolated as people,” Vann said. “You see more and more families are broken, and so then I think of helplessness. I always think of the number one cause of homelessness overflowing is being alone.”

He went on to explain that he doesn’t believe drugs, having served time in jail, or the breakup of a relationship are the number one causes of homelessness.

“All of those types of things can happen in any family, but usually people are pretty resilient,” Vann said. “They bounce back.”

They so often deal with people who are alone and have no safety net.

Then there are the children who find themselves in a homeless situation.

“95% of children in America that are homeless are gonna be with a single mother when she’s alone and has no back up,” he noted. “All of a sudden she’s now in over her head, maybe doing a great job hanging in there. But she’s got the kids.”

Vann said they also see a lot of folks who have chronic mental health issues.

In LaGrange and Troup County, he said people who fall into any of these areas have Branches of Hope to provide the support they need.

“You see you know you have a very strong community that’s really loving and supportive,” he said.

Last year, Vann said they served 350 people, all from the local area. Rarely do they find someone from outside the area coming to them in need of their help and support.

Volunteers who come in to assist with the daily operations at Branches of Hope will often see someone they know or someone who was in their class at school, Vann added.

The poor in the community are the most fragile and can find themselves in need of support when there is any kind of economic or social shift. Vann said the family just doesn’t have the resiliency to bounce back.

“They’re kind of stuck there and so that’s really the nature of who we serve,” he said.

While some may just come in due to the cold weather or are in need of emergency shelter, others will stay longer as they take part in their transitional program.

Vann said Branches of Hope isn’t the sole solution for the community, but just one of the components. Many LaGrange churches help by taking turns providing meals to those in need, he noted, adding that many businesses also have become partners helping to address the needs of so many in the community.

They also partner with the sheriff’s office and police departments in LaGrange, Hogansville and West Point. When officers take a call they can evaluate the situation and often bring people to Branches of Hope instead of taking them to jail. Vann said this can be because someone needs to be in a detox or recovery program.

Instead of punishing someone, he said they assist by helping them get their life back together so they can be productive citizens.

Branches of Hope success stories abound

One gentleman, struggling with alcoholism, found the support he needed to detox and enter a long-term recovery program, Lisa said. Another person who was navigating the complexities of the housing authority waitlist, found temporary stability through Branches of Hope while he worked odd jobs to get back on his feet.

“Today he’s on staff with us, she said. “I worked with him just the other day, creating a budget and getting things all lined up. And he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said “I never thought that by the end of the year I could be out of debt and start saving for a car.”

Lisa said much of their work is similar to parenting with adults who have never learned basics such as how to handle money.

“They didn’t take responsibility. They didn’t grow,” she said. “It allows them the opportunity to do that again.”

Another example is very first guy who came into the shelter when they opened last November.

“He was a person who’s been homeless on the streets for 30 years in Lagrange,” Vann said. “Alcoholism had taken control of his life and it really made a wreck of things. He came to us just in that broken alcoholic kind of state.”

After a short period of time, he said their staff talked him into taking action to get sober and to do something with his life.

“He went into detox, Vann explained. “And from there, even though he was hesitant to do anything, the next step was to get him into a long-term program so that he could go away and get sober.”

Vann said most people don’t realize the effect each of these little successes has on the community.

“People don’t realize the impact of a chronic homeless person on the streets can be tens of thousands of dollars,” he said, noting they make use of a lot of services.

“It could cost the community up to about $120,000 a year for one person just with dealing with them through the legal system, to ER visits and all of the types of interventions that need to be done,” Vann said. “So when you get a guy like that off the street, not only do you help to end his suffering and help him find freedom and hope, you really become a real financial benefit to the whole community.”

Looking forward

As Branches of Hope continues to grow, their vision remains focused. They’re planning a fundraising luncheon and exploring partnerships to expand their capacity. Ten tiny homes, courtesy of Habitat for Humanity, are slated for completion in 2025, offering long-term stability for some of the most vulnerable.

Vann and Lisa encourage those who want to help to consider volunteering, whether it’s performing intake with those in need, performing case manager duties, checking people in, helping prepare the shelter for the night or any of the other daily essential needs.

Lisa said she provides an orientation at 2 p.m. every Tuesday, except for the third one of the month so those interested can learn what Branches of Hope is all about.

“Come on down and learn about what we’re doing and see how you can get involved,” she said.

If the Tuesday timeframe doesn’t work, simply call or email her to set up an alternate time to meet her and tour the facility.

They also depend on the help of those who have court-ordered community service, Lisa said.

“They have been a real blessing to us,” she said. “They’ve been so helpful in keeping things organized and cooking.”

Another way to help Branches of Hope is through financial support.

Vann noted that it costs just $35 a night to house someone at the facility. They recommend doing the monthly gift like a subscription to cover that one bed, one night a month. All donations are tax deductible.

“If you get 2% of the LaGrange population or the county population saying they will help out this way, we have met the budget,” Vann said.

Branches of Hope operates on an annual budget of about a half million dollars.

As they look to the future, Vann said one of the key needs is to become financially secure.

“As a fairly new operation really being long-term financially solvent is the most important thing as we want to be here for the long-haul,” he said.

While they provide shelter for 44 people every night, the facility is usually near capacity.

“Probably the hardest part of the job for everybody is when you’re full and you get that call that says, ‘Hey I’ve got a single mom with two kids,’ and we say we don’t have no room in the inn or we’re full tonight. That’s where you start thinking OK what else could be done.”

This solution shouldn’t just come from Branches of Hope, he said, but from the community as a whole.

“We want to work with other people that know there is probably a property somewhere that would be well suited for a women and children’s recovery center that we could help them with,” Vann said.

Branches of Hope is a beacon of hope in LaGrange and Troup County, a testament to the power of collaboration and compassion. By working together, they’re proving that even the most challenging situations can be overcome, one life at a time.