Today, the Community Assistance Center (CAC) released its 2025 Annual Report, detailing a year of significant growth in both community need and organizational impact across Sandy Springs and Dunwoody.

In 2025, CAC served 4,440 households, helping 1,108 families avoid eviction and remain safely housed, an 8% increase over the previous year. Nearly seven in ten clients were seeking support for the first time. While the number of households served increased 4%, the amount of financial assistance grew by 13% to $769,416.

“2025 was truly a year of growth for CAC, not for growth’s sake, but in response to rising need in our community,” said Francis K. Horton, III, CEO of the Community Assistance Center. “Increasing economic pressure is impacting our lower-income families but also an increasing number of middle-income earners. The needs are creeping into more and more of our community, and we have to scale to meet them.”

Impact highlights from the 2025 Annual Report include:

• 9,632 clients served through all programs
• 1,108 evictions prevented, keeping families safely housed
• 92% of clients reached housing stability & 68% resolved their crisis six months after receiving financial assistance
• 1,738 children served through CAC Cares for Kids programs
• 1.1 million pounds of food distributed to address food insecurity
• $206,768 in Canopy Thrift™ vouchers for clothing and household items distributed 

From Crisis Response to Financial Independence

Beyond crisis intervention, CAC continued to invest in solutions to prevent hunger and homelessness and help clients take critical steps towards advancing their economic mobility. Nearly 80% of individuals who received financial assistance were working at least one job six months later, yet many still lacked the skills needed to secure higher wages that can help them achieve long-term financial independence. 

In response, CAC opened its Empowerment Center in November 2025. This dynamic community hub brings together CAC’s adult education and career services, as well as Thrive, a new workforce development program to help individuals gain skills that can help them secure higher-paying jobs. 

“Opening the Empowerment Center marks a significant milestone for CAC,” says Doris Pereira, Director of Impact and Innovation. “It represents a meaningful investment in our commitment to not only help clients resolve financial crises and regain stability, but also to advance their economic mobility. 

Early outcomes are promising: 65% of clients who used career services in 2025 secured employment, demonstrating the value of this integrated approach.

“Through our integrated services and programs, we are supporting clients in upskilling and reskilling for today’s job market and pursuing pathways that foster personal and professional growth that can lead to lasting financial independence,” added Ms. Pereira.

Growing Community Support Makes CAC’s Work Possible

The report also highlights CAC’s growing base of community support, which enables the organization to meet rising needs and provide pathways to stability and help neighbors thrive.

CAC’s impact is made possible by the continued involvement of donors, volunteers, and community partners who work alongside the organization to support neighbors in need. In 2025, CAC:

• Engaged an average of more than 500 volunteers monthly, contributing 53,000 volunteer hours or an equivalent of 25 full-time staff 
• Increased number of donors by 25% and individual contributions by 104% 
• Launched its $18 million Compassion in Action fundraising campaign, raising $5.5 million in its first six months

Looking ahead, CAC’s 2025–2027 Strategic Plan aims to expand services to reach 30% more people over the next three years, deepen community engagement, strengthen core programs to better equip clients in navigating an evolving workforce and job market, and creating opportunities that can help advance their economic mobility. 

The full 2025 Annual Report is available at: https://ourcac.org/annual-reports/.