What Path United does

Path United (legally Path Project, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2009 by Jim and Melinda Hollandsworth in Georgia, after the founders encountered a family living in a mobile home community in 2008 and observed that very few neighborhood children were graduating from high school. The organization operates on-site community centers inside mobile home parks, delivering weekly youth development programming led by certified teachers and youth development specialists alongside volunteers. Programming centers on the proprietary '5 Ingredients to Flourishing' framework, integrating faith-based values with research-based practices, homework help, social-emotional learning, and character development for children from low-income families.

The organization's business model is donation-funded with no paid products or services; participation is free for children and families. Revenue streams include individual donations (processed via qgiv), church partnerships providing financial and volunteer support, business partnerships for CSR engagement, and in-kind supply donations via Amazon wishlists. Path United serves 9 communities across Georgia and Tennessee, reaching 761 children weekly and engaging 763 volunteers and 35 community partners. Distribution is direct through physical community centers, with church partners hosting programs and mobile home park owners (notably Riverstone Communities) providing site access. The organization is governed by a board chaired by Dale R. Rector and led by co-founders Jim Hollandsworth (Executive Director) and Melinda Hollandsworth (Founder & Regional Director), supported by a leadership team including regional directors, site directors, a Director of Operations, and a Director of Donor Engagement.

Go-to-market relies on community-led growth: new communities are activated via partnerships with local churches and introductions through park owners, schools, and existing partner networks. Marketing channels are minimal (organic website, church referrals, community events) with no paid advertising. Growth has been steady and incremental, with the most recent site launch in Auburn, Georgia in 2021 and Tennessee expansion at Franklin Estates in 2018 establishing a replicable multi-state model.

Name

Path United

Legal name

Path Project, Inc.

Website

https://path-project.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Path United is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating on-site community centers inside mobile home parks across Georgia and Tennessee, delivering weekly youth development programming to 761 children weekly through certified teachers and 763 volunteers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth and Community Development Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Child and Youth Services (624110)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Youth Housing, Foster Care & Wraparound Support (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAO)

Keywords

• Youth development programs
• Community center services
• Mobile home outreach
• Volunteer mentorship programs
• Faith-based nonprofit services

Headquarters

HQ city

Lawrenceville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Individual donors contribute funds to support program operations, supplies, and community center activities. Tax-deductible donations as Path Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
2. Church Partnerships: Churches provide financial support and volunteer resources to sustain programs in their partnered communities.
3. Business Partnerships: Businesses engage financially and through volunteer programs to support community initiatives and staff engagement.
4. In-Kind Donations: The organization accepts supply and snack donations via Amazon wishlists, offsetting major operational expenses for materials.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Path United operates on-site community centers inside mobile home parks across Georgia and Tennessee, delivering weekly youth development programming to children living in those communities. Programs are designed using the proprietary "5 Ingredients to Flourishing" framework, led by certified teachers and youth development specialists, and supported by trained volunteers who provide homework help, mentorship, social-emotional learning, and faith-informed character development free of charge to participating children and families.

Product overview

Path United is a nonprofit organization operating a network of community center programs within mobile home parks across Georgia and Tennessee. The core offering consists of on-site community centers delivering weekly youth development programming led by certified teachers and youth specialists, supported by volunteers. The organization connects with partners through Church Partner and Business Partner programs, recruits volunteers through a structured volunteer program, and accepts supply donations via Amazon wishlists. Programs are available at multiple geographic locations including Auburn, Gainesville, Sugar Hill, Loganville, Lawrenceville (Georgia), and Franklin (Tennessee).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Center Programs On-site community centers operating inside mobile home parks offering weekly programming for children, designed using research-based best practices and led by certified teachers and youth development specialists alongside volunteers. Programs serve children living in mobile home communities across Georgia and Tennessee.
• Volunteer Program Structured opportunities for individuals to volunteer at Path United community centers, including program assistance, homework help, and mentorship, with location-specific sign-up processes for each community.
• Church Partner Program Partnership program enabling local churches to engage with mobile home communities through volunteering, financial sponsorship, resources, and community outreach in collaboration with Path United.
• Business Partner Program Program connecting businesses with Path United for community engagement opportunities in mobile home neighborhoods, including employee volunteer engagement and corporate social responsibility partnerships.
• Supply Donation Program Amazon wishlists allowing donors to contribute snacks, supplies, and dream items directly to specific Path United community centers, supporting in-kind program needs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 761 children impacted weekly across 9 communities
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• City of LawrencevillecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018The entire city rallied to support the launch of Pine Valley programs, contributing to the purchase of a community center.
• Riverstone CommunitiesflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Mobile home park owner company that is a strategic partner. Their purchase of Peachtree Village enabled partnership with Sugar Hill Church. They also own Franklin Estates where Tennessee expansion occurred.
• Local SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with schools enable coordination on academic support and ensure programs complement formal education.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Young Life: A faith-based youth development organization that pairs trained volunteer leaders with adolescents in local communities to build consistent mentoring relationships. Shares Path United's emphasis on faith integration, volunteer-driven weekly contact, and adult-mentor relationships as the change mechanism, though operating in schools and homes rather than on-site community centers.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: The signature U.S. youth-mentoring nonprofit, pairing vetted adult volunteers with children facing adversity to deliver consistent one-on-one relationships that improve academic and behavioral outcomes. Directly comparable to Path United's outcome model (consistent adult relationships driving child flourishing), with a similar reliance on volunteer screening, training, and match-based service delivery.
• After-School All-Stars: National nonprofit providing free after-school and summer programming to youth in underserved communities, with a heavy focus on middle-schoolers and school dropout prevention. Directly analogous to Path United's free weekly community-center programming for at-risk children living in underserved housing communities.
• Youth for Christ USA: Faith-based youth development organization with local chapters delivering mentoring, after-school programs, and juvenile justice outreach. Closely matches Path United's faith-based volunteer-staffed youth engagement model, including structured weekly programming and a youth-development rather than preaching-first orientation.
• Communities In Schools: The nation's largest provider of integrated student supports, embedding site coordinators inside schools to wraparound-deliver counseling, tutoring, and basic-needs services to at-risk students. Comparable in target population (underserved/at-risk youth), service model (wraparound academic and social-emotional support), and school coordination layer.
• Back2Back Ministries: Faith-based nonprofit delivering consistent mentoring and discipleship to children in underserved housing communities through on-site programming at mobile home parks and housing projects. One of the closest direct peers to Path United, sharing the integrated community-center-plus-faith-partnership model serving children in manufactured housing communities.

Broad incumbents

• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: The largest community-based youth development nonprofit in the U.S., operating club facilities that deliver after-school academic, social-emotional, and character programming to underserved youth. Comparable to Path United's mission of placing dedicated youth programs inside underserved neighborhoods, but at vastly greater scale and with a broader (non-faith-based) programmatic scope.
• City Year: National service organization deploying near-peer AmeriCorps mentors into underserved schools to deliver attendance, behavior, and course-performance supports. Comparable in the use of trained adult mentors providing consistent weekly engagement for at-risk youth, but structured as a national service corps rather than a locally volunteer-driven model.
• KIPP Foundation: A leading charter school network serving predominantly low-income students with an extended-day model that integrates academic and social-emotional supports. Comparable mission of college-readiness and flourishing outcomes for underserved children, but delivered through a formal K-12 school model rather than community centers.

Others

• Habitat for Humanity International: Major nonprofit addressing housing and community uplift for low-income families, with parallel reliance on volunteer labor, faith-based and corporate partnerships, and physical community-level infrastructure. Relevant as an adjacent peer operating in the same nonprofit ecosystem serving low-income U.S. communities through volunteer-driven, partnership-funded models.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles24 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Path United