Chip Patterson has been named Chairman of the Board of Georgia Works!, a program to end homelessness, addiction and criminal recidivism.  Georgia Works! changes the lives of chronically homeless men through education and the development of good habits, work ethic and character. The goal is to build the men into self-sufficient and productive members of society.

Patterson, the founder of AmeriPark, worked as a parking attendant while attending Georgia State University. During his freshman year, he started a parking company which became Ameripark in 1986. Patterson grew Ameripark into a national company before selling it in 2015. Patterson is now developing his fourth hotel project in the southeast with his new corporation, 3P Partners.

Patterson says it is his work as a parking attendant that opened his eyes to homelessness. “Every day at work, I would see many people living without a home. Many became friends and some even ended up working for me. It soon became a passion of mine to help them find shelter and work.”

When Patterson sold Ameripark, he vowed to spend more time focused on ways to solve homelessness. It is then that he joined the board of Georgia Works! 

“I am honored to be named the new chairman of the board and am excited to continue the great work that Georgia Works! has been doing since 2013,” says Chip Patterson. “Bill (McGahan) founded an amazing organization that stands ready to help many more men – in Atlanta and in other cities in Georgia and the Southeast. It will be a pleasure to work with Darlene Schultz, our new CEO, to see what we can accomplish in the future.”

Former Board Chair and the founder of Georgia Works!, Bill McGahan will remain active as a board member and will continue his work with Atlanta’s homeless population. McGahan is excited to see the organization expand under new leadership.

“When I founded Georgia Works! in 2013 there were doubters that this program would be successful,” says founder Bill McGahan. “Georgia Works has always been different then other homeless service programs because it requires chronically homeless men and returning citizens to be clean from alcohol and drugs and to work.  The doubters were wrong. After seven years, approximately 1,000 men have graduated Georgia Works! (or are currently in the program and will soon graduate) to a full time job and their own place.”

McGahan continues, “Prior to Georgia Works! a man experiencing homelessness had nowhere to turn to get the help he needed to change his habits and his mindset to be successful. Other programs provided handouts, or matched people with jobs, with no help or training to insure the person had the habits and skills to keep the job. These men wanted to change their life, get a full time job, be a father and husband, and be a responsible, tax-paying member of society.  Georgia Works fills that need, and none of this could have been done without the terrific staff at Georgia Works!, including former Executive Director Phil Hunter.”

The founder of Georgia Works! is excited to watch the organization grow under new leadership, “The time seems right (after 1000 lives saved!) to turn Georgia Works! over to new leadership. Newly hired CEO Darlene Schultz and new elected Chairman Chip Patterson are terrific people with lots of ideas and energy.  I can’t wait to see where they take the organization.  I am looking forward to remaining involved as a board member, and also by visiting the program every once in a while to offer encouragement and to joke around with the program participants.  My plans now are to continue to serve the community through a fast growing company I founded (and Chair) called Housing Tonight, Inc., which provides shared housing to 100+ people every night in Atlanta.”

Georgia Works! invests $2500 in each formerly homeless or incarcerated man it trains and supports – a fraction of the cost of homeless services or incarceration. The program houses participants at its facility for up to one year while they work in transitional jobs. All participants must remain drug and alcohol-free while at the facility. Professional support is provided with workforce training, AA/NA classes, GED classes, personal support and life skill courses. The program’s goal is to have each man in a full-time job and permanent housing, after one year. Seventy percent of men who start the program graduate one year later. Georgia Works! graduates have also achieved the program’s goal of self-sufficiency: 

●      80%+ of graduates remain employed and housed post Georgia Works!

●      90%+ of graduates are now in contact with their minor children and families

●      $13.50/hour is the average starting wage for a graduate upon being hired