On Saturday, October 27, Georgia nonprofit – Rainbow Village – hosted its largest fundraiser of the year at the prestigious Atlanta Athletic Club. During last year’s Gala, Rainbow Village and its supporters raised $275,000 to help the Gwinnett County-based nonprofit meet the financial demands of providing housing and services to continue to transform the lives of homeless families. The results are in and this year’s fundraiser raised $292,475 for Rainbow Village and its mission to break the cycles of homelessness, poverty and domestic violence in Georgia. The funds will be used to support Rainbow Village’s facilities and programming. Its campus is nestled in the heart of Duluth and boasts five apartment buildings with room enough to house 30 families at a time. The onsite community center is home to an early childhood development center, learning spaces for character development classes for resident youth and life skills classes and counseling sessions for resident adults, a chapel and a gathering space for weekly family meals and special events.

“We are so incredibly grateful to all of our Gala sponsors and attendees for making this year’s event such a phenomenal success,” said Melanie Conner, Chief Executive Officer for Rainbow Village. “This was my first year taking part in the ‘We Are Family’ Gala and it was such a special evening shared by people from all walks of life coming together to support a common cause – the eradication of homelessness. We all enjoyed a seated dinner, wine, games and a raffle, as well as live and silent auctions. Winners in this year’s auctions went home with exciting items like Superbowl tickets, hotel accommodations, a week’s stay at Villa on Lake Burton, Rothschild Wine, Roundtrip Delta Airline Tickets and more. The funds we raised will be used to help transform the lives of recently homeless families – giving them a hand up rather than a hand out to ensure their success for years to come.”

Perhaps the most special and profound moment of the evening occurred with Bianca – young mother of three and recent graduate of Rainbow Village – stood before the crowd of Gala goers to share her story and describe the impact Rainbow Village has had in her life. As she gazed into the crowd, she said, “I didn’t know my Village was this big!”

Sponsors of the 2018 Rainbow Village “We Are Family” Benefit Gala included: Brand Bank, First National Insurance, Quantum National Bank, Coles Barton LLC, Wilmington Trust, Scott and Holly Phelan Family Foundation, Global Systems of America, United BMW, Robert Half, The Lorentzen Family, The DeLoach Family, Wilson Lewis, Change Healthcare, The Bass Family, East West Bank, The Fletcher Family, Gwinnett Medical Center Foundation, Gwinnett Medical Center and Leslie Harrison.