Welcome Home
Atlanta has long been a city where home is a gathering place, a refuge, and a foundation for change. From front porches to church steps to living rooms where hard conversations became movements, Atlanta's civil rights legacy reminds us that home has always held power.
The theme, "Welcome home," is about hospitality, but it is also about dignity. It is about the truth that stable housing creates the conditions for people, families, and communities to grow. Homeownership is security, equity, and the chance to build something that lasts.
In Atlanta, "Welcome Home" carries history. This city has long stood at the center of conversations about housing, equity, and access. That is part of why the Carter Work Project returning here feels so meaningful. It is a reminder that the work of building homes is also the work of building justice, belonging, and opportunity.
As volunteers step onto the site for the first time this week, this theme invites them to see the work through that lens. They are not only helping raise walls. They are helping create the kind of stability that allows families to thrive and neighborhoods to strengthen over time.
Here is what you can find on site today:
- Be sure to grab a special Welcome Home sticker while supplies last.
- Near the Porch Paper sign, volunteers are invited to write a short welcome home note to one of our future homeowners.
- Throughout the day, take a moment to consider what home means to you as our media team gathers reflections on why your home is about more than four walls.
- As you stop to take a break today, check the screens on the front porch to learn more about how Atlanta's civil rights legacy connects to affordable homeownership, dignity, and the meaning of home.
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was not only one of Atlanta's most influential civil rights leaders, he fought for affordable, desegregated housing as a fundamental human right. Pick up an exclusive MLK sticker while they last.
Atlanta Showed Up to Kick Off Carter Work Project
Yesterday, we kicked off the 2026 Carter Work Project in the biggest way Atlanta knows how: together.
Hundreds gathered at Mercedes-Benz Stadium — volunteers, homebuyers and their families, sponsors, partners, and supporters — to begin what will be a remarkable week at Langston Park. The energy in the room was electric and filled with anticipation for what can happen when a community shows up for its neighbors.
Throughout the evening, guests had the chance to learn more about Atlanta Habitat's mission and the lasting impact affordable homeownership has had across the city. One of the most meaningful moments was hearing from Chip Carter, the son of former President Jimmy and First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and whose presence carried special significance as we continue the legacy of the Carter Work Project.
The night also gave everyone a welcome only Atlanta could provide, with Jermaine Dupri performing "Welcome to Atlanta" and bringing the city's pride and spirit into the room.
It was an invigorating way to begin the week and an early reminder that this work is about more than building homes, but about connecting people to our homeowners, to Atlanta, and to a mission that will continue shaping Langston Park long after this week is over.
Charday Is Ready for What Comes Next
For Charday, homeownership means something simple and powerful: space.
Space for herself. Space for her children. Space to breathe, save, and begin a new chapter.
A future homeowner at Langston Park, Charday has known about Atlanta Habitat homes since she was young. Growing up in Atlanta, she recognized them from the outside, even before she understood the journey behind them. Years later, after applying three times, she is now preparing to step into a home of her own.
She is excited, a little nervous, and most of all, grateful.
Charday and her three children are especially looking forward to having room of their own. Her older two, ages 12 and 8, are already asking when move-in day will arrive. For Charday, their excitement has made the journey feel even more real. "They are just excited to have their own room," she said.
When Langston Park became an option, she saw more than a new address. She saw a place that could better support her children, with stronger school options and a neighborhood rich with resources and opportunity. As she visited the site while it was taking shape, one thought kept returning: I am going to be a homeowner.
Charday has completed most of her sweat equity through the ReStore, where she has enjoyed volunteering, browsing home goods, and even picking out a recliner her children now love. Along the way, she has gained knowledge through homeowner education classes, learning about maintenance, communication, and what it means to be a good neighbor.
She works for MARTA, and in this next season, she looks forward to saving more, doing more for her children, and finally making more room for herself too.
When asked to describe this season of life in one word, Charday answered simply: "Thankful."
It fits.
Because for Charday, this journey is about building a better future for her family, one that already feels closer than ever.
