The light has been on since 1983.
How a rabbi's phone call and a Holocaust survivor's answer became forty years of shelter.
A cold winter, and a decision
In the winter of 1983, homelessness was growing in Atlanta, and there was almost nowhere for a woman on the street to go. Rabbi Marc Wilson of Congregation Shearith Israel decided that was not acceptable: not in his city, and not within sight of his congregation.
He called Helen Spiegel.
Helen knew what displacement felt like. She and her family had escaped Germany in the wake of Kristallnacht, saved by an American visa that came through just in time. Her husband Frank had been sent to America alone at seventeen. They rebuilt their lives in Atlanta from nothing. When the call came, Helen's answer was to open her own doors.
That winter, in the basement of the synagogue, the shelter took in its first guests. It was one of the first women's shelters in Atlanta, and the first homeless shelter in the United States housed in a synagogue.
“We called ourselves the winter resort.”
Helen Spiegel, remembering that first season. The idea, she said, was for the shelter to be like a little family. (Atlanta Jewish Times, 2017)
Read more about Helen and Frank Spiegel, and Rabbi Marc Wilson, in the Atlanta Jewish Times’ remembrances.
Four decades, one mission
The Shearith Israel Shelter opens: 13 beds in a synagogue basement, the first of its kind in America.
When Hurricane Katrina evacuees arrived in Atlanta, the shelter opened its doors out of season to house them, and the community’s donations overflowed the doorways.
The shelter becomes an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, having previously operated as part of Congregation Shearith Israel.
Services expand beyond shelter: empowerment workshops, career and financial coaching, health education.
Renamed Rebecca's Tent, reflecting a mission that serves women of every background.
The day services program begins, hosted initially at the Zaban Paradies Center, then moving to Rebecca's Tent the following year.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rebecca's Tent distributes over $1M to prevent hundreds of households from becoming homeless, as part of United Way's rapid response rental and utility assistance.
An independent 501(c)(3) with a small staff, a large corps of volunteers, 20 women sheltered each winter, dozens more served each year through day services, and more than 2,000 individuals served since that first cold night.
Our board
Rebecca's Tent is governed by a working volunteer board: