Career counseling

Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency helps Georgians with disabilities prepare for, find, keep, or return to work. Its Assistive Work Technology team helps eligible clients get tools, evaluations, worksite changes, home or vehicle modifications, and other support needed for work.

9 services

Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency helps people in Metro Atlanta who face barriers to work. They offer career coaching, job readiness training, resume and interview help, job placement, financial coaching, and support services for groups like veterans, young adults, older workers, people experiencing homelessness, and returning citizens.

12 services

Empower Work is a national nonprofit that gives free, confidential help for work problems by text or web chat. Trained peer counselors help people think through job loss, job searches, workplace conflict, bullying, harassment, burnout, unsafe conditions, and hard career choices. They do not offer job placement, legal advice, therapy, or a phone call line.

6 services

Advocator Advantage is a nationwide Brown & Brown service that helps people with Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare plan choices, and returning to work while on disability benefits. They help by phone and online with eligibility checks, forms, records, appeals, benefit questions, and Medicare enrollment guidance.

5 services

Camaraderie Foundation is a nonprofit based in Orlando that helps military service members, veterans, and their families. It pays for short-term private counseling, offers case management, and runs transition and family support programs. Counseling can be in person or by telehealth through its provider network.

9 services

Sowing Seed Academy and Mentoring Center (SSAMC) is a nonprofit that runs free after-school and mentoring programs for teens in grades 6-12 and young adults ages 18-25 across the Atlanta metro area. They help students with homework, life skills, job training, and getting back on track in school, and they also offer classes to support parents. Programs include meals, transportation from school, college and career field trips, and on-the-job training through partner companies.

5 services

This is the Senator Johnny Isakson VA Atlanta Regional Office in Decatur, the local office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that handles veterans' benefits (not medical care). Staff help veterans and their families file for disability compensation and pensions, get job training and career help through Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E), apply for home loans, and find help if they are homeless or at risk. You can make an appointment online or walk in, or call the national VA benefits line at 1-800-827-1000.

23 services

Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) has a National Service Office at the Atlanta VA in Decatur that helps veterans with disabilities — especially spinal cord injury, MS, and ALS — get the VA benefits they earned. Their accredited service officers help you file claims, fight denials, and access health care, prosthetics, home modifications, and disability ratings, all for free. They also run a free career program that helps veterans, transitioning service members, and spouses find jobs.

3 services

The Veteran Staffing Network is a national nonprofit job placement and career service run by Easterseals. It helps veterans, their caregivers, and current and former military spouses find work through free one-on-one career coaching, resume help, and interview training, plus a job board that connects them with employers who want to hire veterans. Services are offered virtually, so people anywhere — including the Atlanta area — can use them.

4 services

Veterans Upward Bound at Georgia State University is a free, federally funded program that helps U.S. military veterans get ready for college or a GED. They offer brushup classes in subjects like math, reading, and writing, plus help with college applications, financial aid, and VA education benefits. It is run by Georgia State's Military Outreach Center in downtown Atlanta. (Note: the file name 'National Association of Veterans Upward Bound' is the staff professional association; the actual local service for veterans here is GSU's Veterans Upward Bound program.)

4 services

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is a free national service, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, that helps people with disabilities get the support they need to work. You can call or email them to talk one-on-one with an expert about workplace accommodations, your rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and how to ask your employer for changes that help you do your job. The help is confidential and there is no cost.

5 services

The D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) is a national program based at Syracuse University that helps service members, veterans, and military spouses build civilian careers and start businesses. Most of its help, like the free Onward to Opportunity career training, is offered online so veterans anywhere—including the Atlanta area—can take part. They offer career certifications, coaching, job placement, and entrepreneurship training at no cost.

4 services

The Georgia VECTR Center is a state-funded, one-stop center in Warner Robins that helps service members, veterans, and their families move into civilian jobs and school. Free coaches help with career counseling, resume and job-search help, college and training enrollment, VA education benefits, testing, and connections to housing, health, and other community resources. State and federal partners like the Georgia Department of Veterans Service are housed on-site to help with VA and state benefits.

9 services

My Sister's Keeper Foundation for Women (MSK) is a volunteer-run nonprofit in Conyers that helps women and girls grow personally and professionally. They offer leadership and life coaching, programs for female students, and the Margaret G. Baker Second Chance Award scholarship for women going back to school. They also host empowerment conferences and community events for women and girls.

5 services