Construction is officially underway in downtown Atlanta for a new 24/7 resource center to address homelessness, mental health challenges, substance abuse, and poverty.

The city of Atlanta has chosen a firm to build a new 24/7 diversion center at the city’s detention facility, as it seeks an appraisal of the 11-story downtown building. The City Council on Monday approved a nearly $3 million contract for construction of the new “Center for Diversion Services,” set to open in 2023.

“Expanding the jail is a knee jerk response, and I believe we have come too far for that,” said Moki Macias, PAD’s executive director. She said data shows over 300 people arrested over the past six months could have been diverted and provided services, but were nevertheless taken to Fulton County Jail.

The Policing Alternatives and Diversion initiative — which provides resources to people accused of nonviolent offenses who might otherwise be booked into jail — pushed back on that provision, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a statement that “the goal of PAD’s services as well as the Diversion Center is to reduce the number of people in jail. “Funding any of these activities with revenues generated from incarcerating the same people we seek to assist is incompatible with our mission as well as our values,” the statement says.

An officer who might ordinarily arrest someone accused of a minor, nonviolent offense would be able to instead take them to the center, said Moki Macias, the executive director of the initiative, which began as a pilot program in 2017 and has since expanded citywide.

“If the real goal is to reduce the jailing of people who are experiencing behavioral health needs, then diversion has to be a key part of the equation,” Macias said.

PAD Participant Antonio Bryant shares his story living through 15 years of chronic homelessness, and in collaboration with Partners for HOME, PAD answers commonly asked questions about homelessness.

The Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative (PAD) is on track to assist 450 people this year who would otherwise be arrested for nonviolent offenses, program leaders said Monday.

The initiative aims to keep vulnerable people out of the criminal justice system and instead connect them with the social services they need.

On a chilly morning in March, Brittany Molinaro was working in her home office when about 10 a.m. she heard a knock at the door. She peeked out of the window to see an adult man on her doorstep crying… She scrolled through her phone and pulled up a number she had jotted down in January from the neighborhood Facebook page — a non-emergency number that residents could call instead of calling police.

A program in Atlanta that offers an alternative to calling the police for non-emergency situations now allows residents to reach the service by simply dialing 311.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Moki Macias is acutely aware of the Atlanta jail. She can see it from the window of her new office. Her goal is to keep people out of it.