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Cecily Stevens, executive assistant with HomeAid Atlanta, is today’s guest on the Around Atlanta edition of Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio. Cecily is on hand to discuss HomeAid’s Essentials Drive, which is an annual event designed to aid homeless babies and their mothers by collecting essential baby items such as diapers, formula, food and wipes.
HomeAid Atlanta was started by home builders who wanted a way to give back to the community. The organization helps other nonprofits that work with homeless families and individuals through building and renovating transitional housing for those organizations. In addition, the organization also facilitates outreach programs, such as the upcoming Essentials Drive.
This year’s 14th annual Essentials Drive takes place just in time for Mother’s Day, from April 27 through May 5. There are a variety of ways to participate in this year’s drive, including dropping off new, unused goods in their original packaging at the more than 35 drop off locations around metro Atlanta. In addition, HomeAid offers a simple shopping option for busy professionals – registries available on Target.com and Amazon.com. Just search in the baby registry using ‘HomeAid’ as the first name and ‘Atlanta’ as the last name, and a list of needed items will be available to shop from. In addition, shopping online allows donors to ship the items directly to HomeAid Atlanta!
On Friday, May 8, Atlanta-based UPS will help HomeAid Atlanta by volunteering its time and trucks to distribute these items to various service providers around Atlanta.
HomeAid Atlanta’s Essentials Drive helps a variety of Atlanta’s temporarily homeless, which is a growing section of the homeless population. Many families have experienced temporary homelessness after losing their job and having nowhere, while many single women and children reach homelessness after fleeing domestic abuse. And, contrary to popular belief, the homelessness problem is not just an urban one – the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population in metro Atlanta can be found in Gwinnett County.
In addition to the Essentials Drive, HomeAid has several other projects that will soon be started or are nearing completion. A new apartment is nearly complete at Rainbow Village in Duluth, and an expansion and renovation is in the final stages at Roswell’s Drake House. In addition, a project will get underway in the near future at Phoenix Pass in Conyers. Finally, HomeAid Atlanta’s annual golf tournament, one of the organization’s largest fundraisers, will take place in June.
To learn more about HomeAid Atlanta and how you can help serve the metro area’s homeless population, visit www.HomeAidAtlanta.org or find the organization on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ by searching “HomeAid Atlanta.”
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