Thanksgiving at a homeless shelter may seem a paradox, but at 415 Hope in Carrollton, men who have lost nearly all their material possessions are acutely aware of the blessings they do have.

Like David Hartley.

A resident at the shelter for four months, Hartley had been on a hard road of drugs and multiple arrests two years ago. He was juggling three probations when he discovered a better way of life through faith. So, he tried to get his life back on track. He turned himself in to the authorities and went to jail for 38 days while his friends and family tried to help him. His girlfriend wrote him while he was still in jail about the Hope house, but he wasn’t interested in living in a homeless shelter.

“She said, ‘Well, since we’re not living together, you’ve gonna have to do something, and you don’t need to go back to Bartow County. You need to stay away from the people you’ve been with,’ and she was right,” Hartley said.

So, after leaving the jail he moved into the Hope house. When he arrived, he got the news that his mother had died just the night before, while he was still in jail. It was a tough night, but despite the fact that the men in the house didn’t know Hartley, they prayed with him.

“None of them knew me because it was my first night here; half of them hadn’t even seen me and they had a prayer call for me,” Hartley said. “All the people I knew in Bartow County, none of them would offer even to give me a ride or say ‘Hey, how are you?’ And for years I was there.”

That support he received his first night at the shelter has been a continuing source of strength during his time at the house. He has been able to start his own tree-care business and is slowly getting back on his feet.

All the men are especially thankful for the second chance they have been given. Lost jobs and broken lives may have brought them to the shelter, but the support and care they get is helping them rebuild something stronger and more meaningful than what they lost.

“I’m not thankful for how I ended up here, but I’m thankful I was guided here and found a fellowship such as this,” said Dennis Yearta, who has been at Hope for two months. “The spiritualism here – I was only without a job for a short time because of the motivation I received here.”

Yearta arrived at the shelter after seven months of unemployment. His employer had closed and although he was eligible for unemployment income, he was unable to collect it. He used his savings to survive. When he could no longer pay his court-ordered child support, Yearta was ordered to appear in court for contempt charges. With no job and no money to pay the back child support, he was sentenced to serve time in jail. After just one night in jail, he enrolled in a program through the child support agency designed to get him employed and able to support his child. The program is based in Carroll County and he wasn’t able to go back to Valdosta where he had been living. That left him sleeping in his truck and walking the streets looking for a job. Then he came to Hope. While he was out of work for months in Valdosta, he quickly found a job at Sony Music after coming to stay at the shelter.

“This is not a shelter for wash-outs and has-beens,” said Dennis Yearta, who has been living at the shelter since September. “This is a help-you-help-yourself type program.”

The Hope house is not the average homeless shelter. The city of Carrollton donated the house and volunteers worked to make it a living space for up to 12 men. Created about two years ago by Impact International, the shelter is a temporary home for men that offers them more than just a roof over their heads. The men work with the Department of Labor to find a job. They participate in Adopt-a-Smile to receive free dental care. Community volunteers, many from the churches that help support the home through Impact International, bring meals to the men, and the men all have the opportunity to go to church each week.

Hope house is meant to be a place of healing. It’s a place where the men find the friendship and the support they need to move on with their lives. Instead of letting each other give up, they pull each other up, becoming not only the supported, but the supporter.

Billy White came to Hope after losing his job and his home. He was looking for more than help when he found the shelter less than a week ago and he found it. It was the sign drew him into the place.

“I was walking by here and saw the word hope,” White said. “I’m thankful for coming by this place and this man here. I’m very thankful for that.”