The House of Dawn, Inc was founded in 2000 by Dawn Leneice Murray, who was at the time a Clayton County Parenting Education Instructor and Home Visitor. Mrs. Murray worked with pregnant and parenting teen mothers in many different ways in the Clayton County community, and often encountered teen mothers in need of a safe haven for themselves as well as their children. Mrs. Murray saw what a need there was for a Second Chance Home in the Clayton County Community and stepped up to the plate to make her dream a reality.
Mrs. Murray has always had a heart for helping others less fortunate. In 2000 God showed Mrs. Murray a vision of providing shelter for homeless women and children. Mrs. Murray went right to work and began researching homeless shelters and assessing the need for these homes in her community, Mrs. Murray began visiting and volunteering at homeless shelters and while visiting a homeless shelter in the Clayton County Community, Mrs. Murray saw a pregnant teen mother turned away because she was too young to stay at this shelter. Mrs. Murray was told by the Director of this facility that they turn teen mothers away all the time due to their age and that there were no any shelters for teenage mothers in this community.
Thus The House of Dawn was born a Second Chance Home for teenage mothers and their children. After founding her organization and obtaining her 501c3 Mrs. Murray went right to work, with her husband Mr. Jessie Murray right by her side the two of them turned this dream into a reality. Over the years Mrs. Murray has formed collaborations with several agencies in the community and has been very successful in obtaining strong community support for The House of Dawn.