132 years serving Atlanta’s families. A leading organization supporting equity in education and social and economic mobility for Atlanta’s marginalized communities.

In 1888, a group of Atlanta women formed a sewing circle at the First United Methodist Church’s John Barclay Mission to mend the clothing of street children. While delivering clothes one day, the women discovered a child tied to a bedpost as a safety measure while her mother worked long hours in the cotton mills. Determined to help these children, the women began to care for them at the mission, and Sheltering Arms was born.

Funding provided by The 1888 Society supports:

• Need-based tuition scholarships for young children at Sheltering Arms
• Comprehensive “2Gen” approach to family support services
• Year-round literacy programming for our children.