By: Ayeshah Somani

In Atlanta, where luxury condos rise beside homeless encampments, the contrast isn’t just stark, it’s structural. And for people living with HIV/AIDS, it’s compounded by stigma, silence, and a housing market that was never built with them in mind. Status: Home, the city’s oldest and largest provider of housing for individuals and families impacted by HIV/AIDS, has been addressing this intersection for nearly four decades.

Founded in 1988 and still rooted in the metro area, Status: Home doesn’t try to solve homelessness in the abstract. It focuses solely on those for whom housing instability is inseparable from HIV status. It’s a narrow lens by design, and precisely why the organization has become a cornerstone of care in a city where public health and housing remain stubbornly disconnected.

Serving the Specific, Not the Symbolic

In an era where scale often drives nonprofit ambition, Status: Home has taken the opposite approach: it specializes. The organization doesn’t serve “the homeless.” Instead of temporary shelters or short-term beds, Status: Home offers permanent, supportive housing to nearly 500 low-income individuals and families each year living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. The model works because it’s specific. Residents are met with housing and holistic services that support physical, emotional, and social well-being. Case management, access to care, and long-term stability are not extras, they’re embedded. By tailoring services around a community that continues to face steep medical, legal, and social barriers, Status: Home has become indispensable in a region where stigma can still eclipse support.

A Leader Who Understands the Terrain

Maryum C. Phillips, CFRE, became CEO of Status: Home in 2021 and quickly began building on the agency’s strengths while modernizing its systems, story, and strategy. With over 20 years of nonprofit leadership experience, including roles in fundraising, organizational development, and governance, Phillips arrived with the tools to lead, but also the lived understanding to connect.

She holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Georgia State University and has been recognized repeatedly for her leadership, including back-to-back honors as a Georgia Titan 100. But what distinguishes Phillips is not accolades, it’s clarity. She knows that leadership in this space is not about making HIV housing sound palatable to the public. It’s about refusing to water it down.

Photo Courtesy: Maryum Phillips

A Name Change That Signaled More Than Branding

In May 2023, the agency officially rebranded from Jerusalem House to Status: Home. The shift was more than aesthetic. The previous name, though historic, often led to confusion, especially around religious affiliation. “Status: Home” offered clarity.

The name reflects the organization’s dual mission: confronting HIV status and ensuring housing stability. It also gave the agency a stronger, more direct voice, clarifying its purpose for funders, policymakers, and the community it serves. The result? A sharper identity and deeper resonance, both internally and externally.

Turning Ownership Into Opportunity

One of the most significant shifts under Phillips’s leadership has been the organization’s move toward property ownership. In a city where market volatility makes leasing risky, Status: Home began acquiring real estate. In just two years, it secured five apartment buildings, a rare accomplishment for a nonprofit of its size.

Ownership is more than a financial hedge. It’s a strategy that ensures long-term affordability, agency over physical spaces, and continuity for residents. At one of its buildings, the organization is partnering with Atlanta’s City Council to rename the street to Ullman Court, in honor of co-founder Evelyn Ullman. It’s not just about the name, it’s about acknowledging the people who built this work and the stories that the stories that built this work.

Integration, Not Isolation

Housing is the first step. But Status: Home’s model recognizes that safety and shelter must be accompanied by support. The organization’s residents, many of whom have faced housing instability for years, are not left to navigate care systems alone. Services are built in, not bolted on.

The agency operates with an annual budget of $9.7 million, and is funded through public channels like HUD and the City of Atlanta’s HOPWA program. The rest comes from private sources, including foundations and individual donors. It’s a model that demands accountability and delivers it. Each line item translates into services that move people from survival to stability.

Local Focus, National Voice

Though its work is deeply local, Status: Home is not siloed. Phillips also chairs the board of the National HIV/AIDS Housing Coalition, where she pushes for housing to be seen as a public health issue on a national scale. In that role, she brings the reality of Atlanta’s housing challenges into federal conversations, making sure policy reflects what’s actually happening on the ground.

The organization remains firmly committed to serving the Atlanta area. Its power lies in depth, not reach. The needs in its home city remain vast, and the relationships, political will, and cultural knowledge required to meet them can’t be outsourced.

Leadership That Doesn’t Flinch

In a sector that often softens its messaging to attract donors, Phillips offers a refreshing contrast. Her leadership is grounded, focused, and unapologetic about the population Status: Home serves. She understands that some missions can’t be sanitized to fit mainstream appeal and that doing so would only dilute their impact.

With a staff of 30 and a presence in nearly every HIV/AIDS-related housing conversation in Atlanta, Phillips has positioned Status: Home as both a service provider and a policy influencer. Her leadership has helped the agency weather change while staying rooted in values: stability, equity, and care.

The Road Ahead

Atlanta is growing. So are its housing challenges. As displacement spreads and affordability contracts, the work of Status: Home becomes not just relevant but essential. And yet, the agency doesn’t present itself as a savior. It’s a system, one intentionally built, decades in the making, now evolving to meet a new era.

The future of HIV/AIDS housing in the South will require bold thinking, consistent advocacy, and leaders who can hold complexity without blinking. Thanks to Status: Home, and the steady leadership of Maryum Phillips, Atlanta is better equipped to face what comes next.

Curious about what thoughtful, community-rooted housing looks like in practice? You can learn more about the work Status: Home is doing in Atlanta at www.statushome.org.