A New Way to Help Families in Need: A Moving Truck

Each year, local non-profit the IMPACT! Group provides about 22 families with transitional housing in the Norcross area. Many times these families have put their things in storage and are staying with friends, living out of a car or in an extended-stay hotel. Once the blessing of a permanent place to stay comes, a question follows, “How will I get my stuff there?” 

The is helping to answer that question by providing the families with moving services free of charge, according to a release from the IMPACT! Group.

Their inaugural move was on Dec. 22, 2011 when a moving truck pulled up to help a local mother and her two sons.  The mother worked two part-time jobs and became homeless earlier in the year after losing one of her jobs.  She was able to find another job and keep her family at an extended stay hotel—but couldn’t put a down payment on a new apartment, according to the release.

Two Men and a Truck adopted the family, providing them with gifts and a Christmas dinner in addition to moving them into their new home.

Tom Merkel, President of the IMPACT! Group, said that most of the families that the IMPACT! Group helps get on their feet live on less than $16,000 per year.  He said that often moves are out of the reach of these families.

“The formerly homeless families in our program receive supportive services such as child care assistance and budgeting education,” Merkel said in a statement. “However, until now families have had to pay for their own transportation costs. This enormous gift of moving services by Two Men and A Truck will help families spend their limited dollars on bettering their situation instead.”

Families who live in homes arranged by the IMPACT! Group must hold jobs and meet regularly with an IMPACT! case worker.

“Residents often don’t realize that many of the homeless people in Gwinnett County hold jobs and are trying to get ahead. Many are living paycheck to paycheck and were forced into homelessness after an unexpected job loss, divorce or death,” said Phoebe Buckley-McNair, Case Manager at The IMPACT! Group, in the release.

“The lucky families are able to find somewhere to store their most basic belongings until they find long-term shelter. By having moving assistance from Two Men and A Truck, these families will now become independent faster and easier.”