Behind Every Address: How QuestCDC's Supportive Services Team Defines Wellness
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National Wellness Month | August 2026
Housing is where stability begins — but at QuestCDC, it's rarely where the work ends. Behind every lease signed and every key handed over is a team of case managers, house managers, and care providers whose job is to make sure that housing turns into something lasting: wellness, in the fullest sense of the word.
This August, in recognition of National Wellness Month, we're pulling back the curtain on the Quest Cares and Leonard House Supportive Services teams — the people who define what whole-person care looks like on Atlanta's Westside, one relationship at a time.
Wellness as a Whole-Person Commitment
For Melissa Tyson, Supportive Services Director at Quest Cares, wellness was never just about a roof overhead.
"Wellness isn't a program we run — it's the outcome of every case plan, every referral, every person who chooses to show up for our residents," Tyson says. "That's what National Wellness Month means at Quest."
That philosophy shapes the CARF-accredited supportive services model at the heart of Quest Cares' Permanent Supportive Housing program — a model built on the understanding that people who have experienced chronic homelessness need more than a lease to build a stable life. They need a team.
Meeting Residents Where They Are
That team starts with case management, the entry point for individualized care at Quest Cares.
Lead Case Manager Tamekia Shumpert sees her role as building trust before anything else. "Wellness starts with being seen," she says. "Before we talk about goals or services, I make sure every resident knows: someone is in their corner."
That same philosophy guides Vincent Gray, Case Manager for Permanent Housing, who works with residents after they've moved in. "Permanent housing isn't the finish line — it's the starting point," Gray says. "My job is making sure that once someone has the keys, they have everything else they need to stay."
It's a distinction the team takes seriously: getting someone housed is only half the work. Keeping them housed — connected to healthcare, income, and community — is the rest.
A New Voice for Supportive Services
That commitment continues to grow. This year, Quest Cares welcomed Tanya Scott as Case Manager of Supportive Services, reporting to Melissa Tyson. Scott brings more than a decade of experience in advocacy, behavioral health, housing, and case management, along with the discipline of a U.S. Army veteran and public safety experience as a Juvenile Correctional Officer.
"Stability, well-being, self-sufficiency — that's the roadmap for every client I work with," Scott says. "My job is to make sure no one has to find that path alone."
In her role, Scott assesses client needs, develops individualized service plans, coordinates community resources, advocates for continuity of care, monitors progress, and provides crisis intervention when it's needed most — the full arc of support that defines the Quest Cares approach.
Honoring Those Who Served
Among the residents Quest Cares serves are veterans navigating the return to civilian stability, supported by Veterans Case Manager LaKesha Simon.
"Our veterans gave so much," Simon says. "Wellness Month is a reminder that they deserve a support system that gives just as much back."
Recovery, Structure, and Community at The Leonard House
Across town, The Leonard House offers a different but complementary model of wellness: a no-cost, six-month transitional housing program for men in recovery, where structure and peer support work hand in hand.
Lead Certified Peer Specialist Tiajila Clemons brings a perspective few case managers can offer — lived experience. "Recovery isn't a straight line, and it isn't something you do alone," Clemons says. "My job is to walk it with our residents, because I've walked it myself."
House Manager Jonathan Luckett sees his role as building the foundation recovery needs to take hold. "A stable house is where recovery gets a chance to take root," he says. "My job is making sure that stability is felt the moment someone walks through our door."
Fellow House Manager Charles Rice adds a reminder that wellness starts with how residents see themselves. "Every resident who comes through our doors is more than their circumstances," Rice says. "Part of wellness is helping them see that in themselves again."
Rounding out the team's approach to whole-person care is Program Nurse Primrose Wahome, who supports the physical health needs that go hand in hand with recovery. "Physical wellness and recovery go hand in hand," Wahome says. "When our residents feel well in their bodies, they have the strength to do the harder work of healing everything else."
Twenty-Five Years of Showing Up
As QuestCDC marks 25 years of community development on Atlanta's Westside, National Wellness Month is a fitting moment to recognize the people who make that legacy real — not through buildings alone, but through the daily, human work of case management, peer support, and care.
Housing stability is the foundation. But as this team shows every day, wellness is what gets built on top of it.
QuestCDC's Quest Cares program provides permanent supportive housing and case management for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness, including dedicated support for veterans. The Leonard House offers no-cost transitional housing for men in recovery.
