IANA was concerned with the problems surrounding family homelessness. In response to two studies surveying the services available to the homeless in Atlanta, IANA determined that Northeast Atlanta was poorly served. The decision to solicit funds and build Interfaith Outreach Home came out of this concern.

The only means the churches had of helping homeless families was an overnight stay in a hotel, a bag of groceries, and occasionally some clothing. Although this was better than nothing, it was a band-aid approach for a more serious problem - homeless intact families, who were down on their luck, deserved an opportunity to recover from homelessness in a safe, secure home environment while keeping their families together.

They needed money to go further. After receiving a commitment of a major gift from one of its more ardent individual supporters and the many other pledges of support for the project, IOH signed a land lease agreement with Advent Lutheran Church in Doraville and began construction in early 1991. The building contains 10 apartments of approximately 440 square feet of space. Each apartment consists of two rooms, with a bath, and small kitchen area. On February 2, 1992 the first two families moved in and enrolled in the program.