United Way of Central Georgia has hired Reverend Dr. Jake Hall as the Executive Director of its newest initiative, United to End Homelessness. In this role, Dr. Hall will lead the effort to develop, coordinate, and implement a comprehensive strategy to end housing vulnerability in Central Georgia by working with service providers, community members, funding agencies, and people experience homelessness or housing vulnerability.
“Finding ways to help the people who need us the most has been a priority of our administration from the very first day I took office, from opening the Brookdale Resource Center to allocating millions in ARP funds to make it permanent to offering free mental health counseling servings and more,” says Mayor Lester Miller. “Dr. Hall will be a great addition to Team Macon-Bibb and will be instrumental in coordinating services, finding new funding sources for more services, and making sure we are providing people the best of what we have.”
“We are all working together in a housing-first model to create long-term supportive housing and efficient rapid-rehousing to do the ‘most good’ for those in need,” says Dr. Hall. “Our work is based in a caring community that has loudly declared action must be taken now to help chronically homeless persons, families experiencing housing insecurity, veterans, and victims of domestic violence.”
“Dr. Hall will be our lead advocate for the people we’re serving and bringing together our entire community’s resources in such a way that services will be easily accessible to the people that need them,” says United Way President & CEO George McCanless. “We must identify what people in our community need and make sure we get them the resources and support they need.”
The United to End Homelessness initiative – empowered by Macon-Bibb County and hosted by the United Way – will be a powerful, holistic, community-based collaboration between Macon’s municipal, healthcare, education, economic, faith-based, and non-profit leaders. It is committed to reducing homelessness in Macon-Bibb County to functional zero, where episodes of homelessness are rare, brief, and non-recurring. It will work in tandem with the Coalition to End Homelessness, Macon-Bibb County Economic and Community Development Department, and other partners.
About Dr. Jake Hall
Reverend Dr. Hall earned his bachelor’s degree from Samford University, his Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School, and his Doctorate from Mercer University. Dr. Hall is a senior research fellow at the Baugh Center of Mercer University and an adjunct professor at Mercer’s James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology.
He is a graduate of, and board member for, the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Macon program and mentors community leaders in areas of systemic poverty, race and class dynamics. In 2017, Dr. Hall received NewTown Macon’s Emerging Leader Award. He is a current board member for the Duke Divinity School Baptist House of Study, is on the board of Good Faith Media.