At Positive Impact International, kids are just kids.

“I always say that these are not bad kids,” explained Tami Wilder, co-founder and CEO of Positive Impact. “They’ve come from bad situations. They might do bad things, but it doesn’t mean they’re bad.

“Yet stereotypes often inform how people think of these kids: they’re never going to make it, they’re going to end up in jail or in a psych ward, or they’re going to repeat the cycle of their family.”

Positive Impact is an emergency shelter for youth in crisis as well as a transitional living program.

“We have kids stay with us for a day, a weekend, a few months or for years. Many of them have nowhere else to go,” Tami shared.

The youth who come to Positive Impact are unhoused for a variety of reasons. Some are fleeing abuse or instability in their home. Others are experiencing homelessness because of their families’ financial struggles, and still others are fleeing trafficking. 

“We’re not a traditional shelter,” Tami said. “You might think of a big building with loads of kids inside, but we took a different approach.”

She believes children need to grow up in a home, so Positive Impact leases houses in local neighborhoods with house parents to guide and encourage the youth under their care. 

“Now the kids can go to therapy. We’re making sure they’re in school,  and we help them graduate,” she explained. “Our whole goal is to get them stable, and if they are with us past 18, we help them achieve self-sustainability through getting a job and a bank account and making sure they save money.”

Positive Impact grew out of the need Tami saw after she moved with her family from London, England to America almost 20 years ago.

“I worked a lot in the foster care space, and I’ve trained foster parents for the past 18 years,” she said. 

“I noticed that America, especially in the Atlanta area and Gwinnett County specifically, lacks affordable programs for youth. When kids don’t know what they’re going to do next, they often get in trouble.”

13 years ago, Tami approached her parents about founding a nonprofit community center for local youth. The organization began with programming like art and dance classes to give youth resources and an outlet. 

Then three years later, National Safe Place contacted Positive Impact and asked if Tami and her team wanted to be a Safe Place agency for Gwinnett County. 

“National Safe Place sets up yellow and black signs at locations, like a QuikTrip or YMCA. When kids see the sign, they know the business can help them. So if a kid goes to QuikTrip and says, ‘I need a safe place,’ the QuikTrip will contact us to come and help that child.”

In partnership with National Safe Place, Positive Impact offers an emergency youth shelter and the resources youth need to get back on their feet.

As a mom herself, Tami is grateful for the opportunity to serve other children in the same way she hopes others would help her four kids.

“I always think, ‘If something happened to me and I didn’t have the family that I do, where would my kids go?’” she shared. “I believe that God told us to take care of the widows, the sick and the children. This is what I’m supposed to do.”

Though she’s leading Positive Impact, she’s also training foster parents, juggling a busy schedule to ensure all of Gwinnett’s children have a safe place.

“I’m watching kids break through trauma, graduate high school and get their first job. Kids who have gotten married and have families, gone into the military or started careers. Some have broken cycles in their families as the first to graduate high school,” Tami explained. 

“When kids enter our program, they’ve gone through so much and can’t imagine the future because they’re in survival mode. But I see them push through and make it [to the other side].”

Tami frequently meets youth like a pregnant teen who came to Positive Impact seeking stability for herself and her unborn baby.

“We connected her with resources to get her through her pregnancy. She graduated high school, and we helped her get a job. Now she has her own apartment, and she’s doing well,” she said.

“Not only did she beat the odds, but now she has a foundation so that her child will not be in the same situation she was.” 

Just like this teen mom, many youth in Gwinnett are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, but they’re still just kids. 

“Kids will self-sabotage because they’re so used to things being bad for them. If they feel things are going right, they can quickly self-sabotage. But that’s just part of the process,” Tami explained. “When I get to know these kids, I know they are no different than my children. 

“These kids have a label on them. People say ‘foster children’ or ‘homeless kids.’ No, they’re kids in foster care or kids who are unhoused. They’re just kids, and we want them to have regular lives.”

That’s why Tami is passionate about using Positive Impact to provide dignity to each and every child her team serves. 

“I don’t want the school bus pulling up to a big building that’s a shelter because other [school] kids can be mean,” she said. “We’re also very particular about donations. If I don’t think my kids should only have hand-me-downs or used items, why should the kids we serve?”

As a smaller nonprofit, Positive Impact depends on the community to help it take a stand for youth in crisis. 

“In Gwinnett, there’s an idea that we don’t have kids experiencing homelessness because you don’t always see them on the street. But the truth is we’re serving over 200 kids through our shelters and over 400 kids through our crisis line,” she explained.

“There is no gift too small. Without people to fund us, then what will happen to these kids?”

But through partnerships, Positive Impact can continue showing up for youth who need a safe place.

“We’re meeting children where they’re at and giving them the attention they need,” Tami said.

“To see a child go through rough times and keep persevering to make it through is everything to me.”