By Kaley Fedko
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ATLANTA (WUPA) — A recent study revealed just how deep DeKalb County’s housing crisis runs, with thousands of families living in hotels.
A woman who was once forced into such a situation, but has since found help, is sharing her story with CBS News Atlanta.
The study, conducted by Georgia State University (GSU), Single Parents Alliance and Resource Center (SPARC), and community advocate Sue Sullivan, found over 4,600 people in DeKalb County, including 2,004 households and 1,635 children, were living in extended-stay hotels.
One new transitional housing project called Park at 500, the first of its kind in DeKalb County, is stepping in as a solution, offering apartments with free rent up to a year to families who qualify, and Kylisha Newberry is one of its inaugural beneficiaries.
Newberry told CBS News Atlanta that she lived in a hotel for eight months with her 5-year-old daughter.
She said she was forced out of her apartment and then was later hit with a $17,000 eviction judgment, a debt that kept her from renting.
“It was hard to cook, hard to really live because you have so much of a weight on your shoulders to where it’s unbearable, especially having your child in a one-bed hotel room,” Newberry said.
After hearing about the Park at 500 program through her daughter’s school counselor, she called Sue Sullivan, the program’s director.
“She said ‘the next time I call you, you will be getting keys to your new home,’ and sure enough, the next time she called me, she said come get your keys,” Newberry recalled.
Newberry and her daughter moved into their apartment right before Christmas.
She said she missed the little things that come with a home, especially spending time in her kitchen.
“This is the nicest kitchen I’ve ever had,” Newberry said,” I love baking cookies, like homemade cookies from scratch.”
Newberry is one of 60 approved beneficiaries living in an apartment in the Park at Somerset neighborhood through the program, which is at capacity according to Sullivan.
Sullivan told CBS News Atlanta she has been studying DeKalb’s housing issue for seven years, personally knocking on thousands of hotel doors.
In talking to families living in hotels, she found rent was increasing while wages were not, leaving many of them no other choice.
DeKalb County set aside $8 million in July 2025 to launch Park at 500.
Applications opened up in October, and families moved in in December.
She said she personally called the 60 families to tell them the news once they were approved.
“I called one mother; she was giving plasma when I called,” Sullivan said. “She was giving plasma so she would be able to pay for the room that night.”
The joint study with GSU and SPARC began in September and was presented to the DeKalb County Commission in January 2026 after the launch of Park of 500.
Even though there is currently a waitlist for Park at 500, Sullivan said the study proved the need is there and hopes Park at 500 will inspire similar programs.
“I would consider this the most beautiful solution,” Sullivan said. “It hasn’t been done before. It’s groundbreaking. My goal is to make this the best program out there, so it’s duplicated over and over again.”
DeKalb County District 3 Commissioner Nicole Massiah said the presentation of the data was eye-opening.
“I was aware it was going on, but just not how extreme it is,” Massiah said.
The presentation recommended other solutions to the commissioner, such as creating a housing task force, establishing a hotel-resident stabilization fund, and allowing housing investments in the county budget.
Massiah told CBS News Atlanta the presentation hit home for her.
“What was also interesting about the study is it was sharing the different markers and the demographics, and similar to what was provided in that study, I am a Black female who’s also a single mom,” she said. “Those are the demographics that were primarily affected and are affected when it comes to living in extended stays.”
While other concrete solutions have not been hammered out yet, Massiah said she is personally invested in the issue.
“We are not going to just throw solutions at the wall. We are going to listen,” she said.
It’s the beginning of progress in DeKalb County, and for Kylisha Newberry, a start to a new life.
“Never give up and always keep your head up. Your situation does not define you,” Newberry said. “We all go through things, and it’s a matter of time before we get that one open door.”
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