Directing Opportunity

At Emmaus House, our first strategic priority is creating a ladder to economic opportunity for residents that leads to economic stability. Ground zero for this effort is our Muriel Lokey Center. 

The Lokey Help Center offers a wide range of services, from emergency financial assistance to SNAP applications, GA ID vouchers, and mail services. It also houses the Emmaus House Food Pantry. 

In addition to the services it offers, the Lokey Help Center also serves as a hub of opportunity for the community, connecting residents to various resources and services in the area.

A New Chapter

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve recently hired a new Director of Economic Opportunity! Using the Lokey Help Center as a base of operations, David-Lee Mattison will guide the execution of our priority to foster economic opportunity and financial stability among residents. 

David-Lee has more than two decades of experience working with unhoused individuals, as well as providing HIV prevention education and risk-reduction counseling services. He’s a certified National Behavioral Interventions Trainer for the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and the Georgia Department of Health.

“As the Director of Economic Opportunity,” David-Lee says, “I am excited to contribute to the forward-thinking Emmaus House. My years of experience working as a director and providing case management to neighbors and community members facing housing and food insecurities has given me the tools I need to be successful.”

David-Lee is inspired by this quote from Mother Teresa: “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.”  

Please join us in welcoming David-Lee to the team!