Atlanta Emerging Markets, Inc., an affiliate of Invest Atlanta, provided Families First with an $8.5 million New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) investment from SunTrust to acquire and convert a former Atlanta Public Schools building on Atlanta’s Westside into its headquarters and main services complex.

Families First’s mission is providing safe homes for at-risk children, housing and self-sufficiency-support services for families, and parental growth and skill-building counseling services. The 38,000-sq. ft. renovation project, near the Ashby Street MARTA station in Washington Park, will help to relocate Families First programs to a more client-accessible location in upgraded facilities and substantially expand the non-profit agency’s programming. The new headquarters, in what used to be E.R. Carter Elementary School, will enable Families First to annually serve 52,000 clients – 91 percent of whom are expected to be low-income.