Daybreak, a Project of Depaul USA Inc.

Depaul USA manages Daybreak/Sheridan Center to provide support services and a warm, welcome refuge to those affected by homelessness in Macon, GA.  Every weekday in Macon, an average of 100 homeless men and women visit Depaul USA Daybreak/Sheridan Center to receive services that help them overcome the immediate crisis of homelessness.  These services include:

• Breakfast and snacks
• Case management
• Laundry and showers
• Physical and mental healthcare
• Dental care
• Phones and computers
• Enrichment classes
• Housing and housing placement
• Sheridan Center (Respite Care)

In addition, we've opened the Phil and Alice Sheridan Center. The center offers medical care and a supportive environment for recovery to those experiencing homelessness in the community.

Before moving to Macon in December 2023, Willie Dubose lived in Florida for more than a decade. He had a good-paying construction job and an apartment in Tampa.

In Macon, he didn’t have a place to stay or work, but Willie had other priorities that winter. “I learned my kids were being placed into state custody in Georgia. So, I dropped everything to come here. Kids come first,” Willie explained.

His teenage son and daughter had been living with their mother about 30 miles from Macon. Willie, a Louisiana native who served in the U.S. Navy during Desert Storm and also lived in Texas for many years, decided that heading to an unfamiliar city was a move he urgently needed to do. It would mean being jobless and without a home, but he knew he would work hard to make that a temporary situation.

Daybreak / Sheridan Center helped Willie with finding housing and adjusting to his new hometown. Willie also began attending Bible study, Alcoholics Anonymous  (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous meetings at the center.

“Daybreak is a great resource! They provide food and health services, and help with housing and so many things,” he noted.

Willie also found support through other local organizations, including Brookdale Resource Center, where he lived for the first few months.

He quickly focused on finding a job and regularly filled out applications. In March, his job search ended when he landed a full-time position working the overnight shift at a warehouse.

“I was broke,” Willie said. “I walked 9 miles to get to work on my first day.”

When his supervisor learned he had to walk such a long distance, he drove Willie home after their shift and continues to give him rides every workday.

With a steady job, Willie was able to sign a lease for a house in Macon. He thinks the two-bedroom home will be a good place for his children to stay when they come on weekends and in the summer.

Willie said he likes Macon. “People are friendly. It’s a city of resources – they’re there if you need them.”

He wants to be a positive example to others at Daybreak who are experiencing homelessness or in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction. “I want to show people if I can make it, anyone can. God has a long way to take me, and He’s taken me far already.”